Immortality
by itwasheridea
Summary: Edward and Bella are preparing for the wedding, everyone is busy. After the big day, Edward and Bella's life together will change forever...but will it be for better or for worse? Please Read and Review.
1. Prologue

**Hi everyone! This is a story written mostly by Madi, one of my best friends. I, Megan have done little but I mostly came up with ideas and edited. To give you a little history behind this story. We started writing it back in February. It is almost completed and decided to wait until it was almost finished to post so we could update quickly. This story was under a different name back in March "Breaking Dawn", way to be original! hehe but it was only the prologue and the first chapter. This will be the complete story. Its a little different from the first go round. We hope you enjoy and keep reading. **

**Disclaimer: We do not own anthing...until later chapters. Stephenie Meyer is the woman who had the dream of a sparkling man in a meadow and a plain girl back in 2004. Praises to her.  
****Without further ado...**

_Prologue_

My mind had long since left me. I followed them with mild interest: the blurs that were my sisters, the snarled threats I knew to be my brothers. How could they gamble their lives if they would gain nothing no matter what they did? How could I watch them battle for their dawn? I couldn't decipher what was going on and my thoughts were too jumbled and fuzzy to grasp the fact that my family and friends – the wolves with their long thick fur and their heads thrashing in response to a foe I couldn't see – hadn't caught up with the events that had already transpired.

It comes quicker than you think it will. It comes with such a startling and cold finality that you don't realize quite what you're saying. Some other mouth speaks and your hands are clasped in his. The only thing you allow yourself to comprehend is how definite the ending is when there is no escape.

They called to me, my pixie sister and the exquisite face of an angel. They showed more fear in their onyx eyes than I had ever before seen. Why were they so concerned? Whatever damage they were fighting off had already been inflicted.


	2. Sunrise

**This is the first actual chapter. We hope you enjoy...  
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**_Sunrise_**

The silence quivered around her as she tore through the trees. Every tree, root, or branch she encountered was exactly the same – sharp, angry and a blurred yielding green – and she hated it. It was gaining ground, approaching her from all angles in that same muted manner. Her left foot collided with a stone and she crashed to the ground. Her head was spinning; it felt as though she was racing at the speed of light though her hands were dirtied with the soil that pushed up against the pads of her fingertips. She blocked out the flashes of faces and unheard shouts, choosing instead the bleak blackness of her eyelids.

She peeked through lashes after a period of stillness and then allowed them to widen in astonishment.

His back was facing her and he was laying atop a familiar golden comforter. This made no sense as she drew near to his side. His arm was curled up to support his head and from his bedside she noted the very natural and unembellished way in which he inhaled and exhaled. He was asleep.

She called his name in an effort to let him know she had seen him; it was alright for him to awaken from his mock slumber.

"Edward?"

There was no response save the rhythmic comfort of his deep breathing.

"Edward."

Each step she took in his direction was how loud the echo of her words became. It became more and more apparent to her as she talked to a granite statue that he was only in the room as a physical presence. In every other sense she was alone.

"You're doing what?"

Charlie emerged from the shadows at her side and gripped her shoulders in an iron grip she couldn't shake off. She shuddered at the look of fury in her eyes and shook her head, banishing him away from her. This could not be happening. Once was more than enough, wasn't it?

"Bella be reasonable! That boy left you once and it damn near destroyed you. Now you want to marry him?! I won't allow it. I love you too much to let you ruin your life this way. Jacob may not be able to bring you back if he leaves you again."

Tears coursed uncheck down her cheeks. Edward was doing nothing to help her. Why wasn't he pushing Charlie off of her? He had to help her! But he did not move. Words tumbled from her lips of their own accord, she was powerless to stop them.

"I am eighteen years old! If I want to marry someone then I can do it and there is no way for you to stop me!"

"I'm your father and you'll listen to what I tell you."

"I'm an adult and I'll move out if you tell me what I don't want to hear!"

"As an officer I won't let you! I'll – I'll arrest him."

"For what? We're not doing anything illegal. He proposed and I said yes."

"Edward Cullen is not a suitable husband for you. You should marry Jacob. You'll be so much better off. He loves you and he'll never leave you…"

Stop. Why wouldn't he stop? Why wouldn't Edward come to her rescue? Did he not see her? Or was Charlie right all along? No. No that couldn't be true. Edward loved her and he wouldn't abandon her again. He promised.

Charlie released her from his vice grip and she collapsed on the floor, shaking despite the unshakeable heat that was radiating from the four corners of the Earth. Alice materialized opposite Charlie who continued to rant on. She flaunted an expression of the deepest hurt.

"Don't you love me?"

There was a compulsion, a pull so far deep inside her to answer but her sobs were racking her body and her vision was blurred with tears. It felt like the whole world was trembling, ready to cave in on top of her and bury her with the past.

"To me, Alice you _are_ my sister."

"Words!"

Jacob appeared beside Alice. His face was scrunched up in disgust and he sneered, "You'd be better off dead."

She drew into herself, encircling her knees with her arms and hiding her face from view. But she couldn't block out the threats, the rants, the hurtful questions, the red irises, the gnashing of teeth…

"Edward!" And he never answered.

And Bella Swan sat up in bed, her arm outstretched and his name still coming from her lips. Cold marble arms wrapped themselves around her, encompassing her in a barricade of strength. The blue glow of a coming dawn provided just enough light for her to make out the exquisite features of his face. He rained kisses along her forehead, cheekbone, jaw, and neck, all the while humming her lullaby in her ear.

"It's alright, Bella," he whispered, kissing the tip of her nose. Her heart had calmed and the darkness of her dreams was slipping beyond her reach. "It was just a dream."

She nestled her head into the curve of his neck. "I know."

"I am curious though," he added in a lighter tone. She could hear the smile in his voice.

"You're always curious aren't you?"

"Only when it comes to you."

"What were you curious about?"

"I was wondering why you were talking about Alice," he reiterated. "Out of all the nights I've spent listening to you sleep-talk, I've never heard you mention Alice."

She pulled away so she could see his face. His butterscotch eyes were alight with curiosity and she burrowed back into his embrace. There wasn't a way to tell him why Alice had been mentioned without telling him about the dream in its entirety; he knew her too well for her to avoid the complete truth.

"I had a dream where everyone was talking at once. Charlie was yelling about you and I getting married, Alice was mad because I wouldn't let her do the wedding, Jacob said I would be better off dead – all things that I've heard before. I was reliving the horrible things in the past, all at once. And you weren't there. Well you were there, but you were laying on the bed, asleep and no matter how hard I yelled for you, you never came."

His arms tightened about her waist but he said nothing. She laughed into his skin. "I know it's silly."

"No, it's not," he shook his head and met her eyes. "I know you're stressed. I'm guessing that the wedding is making you wonder about commitment, am I right?"

She pulled herself out of his arms. "I see where this is going. This is not about you, Edward. I know you're not leaving me again."

"Still," he shook his head. "I left you before at a time when everything seemed perfect. But I won't do that again; I don't have the willpower to do that again."

"Edward, I believe you," she sighed. Her hands caught his face and she forced him to look her in the eye. "This about me and my doubts, not about you."

"Bella, everything that had happened to you since you arrived in Forks has been about me, in some way, shape or form," he argued. "And I will not have you losing sleep because you're afraid that I will leave you."

"We're getting married in four days," she snapped. "I'm sure that every bride in history had had some kind of doubt this close to their wedding day."

"You don't have a reason to be doubtful or nervous," he assured her. He shifted on the bed to pull her flush against him, guiding her head to rest on his shoulder. She frowned and lifted her head. He'd never had to change his position like that before.

"Were you standing up?" she asked. Her voice was already sleepy once more but she was curious as to the answer. He smiled against her forehead and replied, "I was watching the sunrise. There was a momentary break in the clouds and I could see it."

"Oh."

He pulled tight against her waist, not so tight as to hurt her, but tight enough that she felt safe and secure enough to close her eyes and let him sing her back to sleep.

The events of the previous night were fuzzy to her when she drew herself from happier dreams to face the day. The first thing she was aware of was the lack of Edward next to her. She scrambled to sit up. Her eyes landed on him in the chair across the room. His face was laughing at her. She sighed, "There you are."

He held his cell phone in his hands. "Charlie left several hours ago. I called Alice to let her know you wouldn't be home till later this afternoon for your fittings."

She rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?

"Late."

With a groan, she fell onto her back again and muttered, "I don't feel like doing anything."

She felt him at her side. "Then don't. Alice will understand and if she doesn't, I'll make her understand. Take today off and relax."

She tilted her head to look at him. There was a light in his eyes, like she'd never seen before. It was almost like looking into the eyes of a little kid misplaced in a seventeen year old body instead of the ancient eyes of a hundred year old vampire. She closed her own eyes. "You're really happy about all this, aren't you?"

"Yes," he replied, "but I want you to be happy, too. Are you?"

"Yes, I am," she nodded. If she were honest with herself, it was true. An eternity with Edward was the only option capable of yielding true happiness. She just wished she wasn't leaving so many doors unclosed when she walked away. "Tell Alice I'll be there at two."

He leaned in and kissed her. "Alice will be ready whenever you get there."

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**We hoped that you liked it...Please read and review**

**+Megan and Madi**

**QUOTE FROM NEXT CHAPTER:**

**_"I didn't think you really wanted to have a dance competition."_**


	3. Insight

**Wow...60 hits and one aleart! Yay! We hope you enjoy chapter two...**

**Disclaimer: We do not own anything remotely relating to twilight. **

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**_Insight_**

The dress was a perfect fit when she slipped it on in Alice's bedroom, just as it had been the previous times she'd been forced to try it on for Alice's "fittings".

"Can I go now? The thing fits perfectly." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, arms crossed. This fitting thing was the only plan she'd had for the day. The sooner she was done dealing with her already perfected dress, the sooner she could take her fiancé – she still couldn't help but flinch at the word – up on his suggestion that she take the day off.

Instead of the amused reply she'd been expecting, the pixie-like woman turned on her heels and sang, "Hi, Jasper."

He was leaning against the frame of the opened door, his presence smaller but no less imposing than that of his brothers', with his hand poised to knock. There was a small smile on his face. "When you're done tormenting Bella, Esme wants to see her."

Alice heaved a sight, as if it were a horrible inconvenience. "Well, I guess we can't keep her waiting, so I suppose that means you're off the hook…for now."

She sprang a few steps in his direction to wave him off and close the door. Before he was out of sight, Bella made sure he saw her mouth a thank you. For the briefest moment, his small smile flashed brighter. Alice turned her attention back to her. "Turn around."

As she unzipped the dress, Bella commented, "You're half hoping I trip getting out of this thing and snap a sleeve off or something."

"It's a sleeveless dress." She could practically hear the eyes rolling.

"I'd find a way." She pulled her shirt over her head, now more curious about what Esme wanted than anything else. Alice pushed her out of the room. "Go see Esme, procrastinator."

The woman in question was found trailing her fingers across the ivory keys of the piano and she hesitated in the doorway, unsure as to whether she should enter, leave, or wait to be noticed. Esme glanced up from the sheet music she'd been studying and smiled her mother's smile.

"Bella, honey, come on over here."

She still lingered in the doorway, unsure. "Jasper said you wanted to see me. Is anything wrong?"

Esme stood and walked around the piano to sit on a couch. She patted the seat next to her and Bella moved to sit beside her. "Nothing's wrong, I promise. Things have just been so hectic lately. I wanted to make sure _you_ were okay. Alice isn't here, Edward isn't here…no one's listening in right now. If there's something you don't really like, you can go ahead and tell me. I'll fix it."

Bella shook her head. "Everything's fine. Really. It's great."

She was not to be fooled. "Are you sure? I know how Alice can be. And I know she doesn't mean to do what she sometimes does, but I won't have my new daughter unhappy on her wedding day because she's trying to please everyone else. If there's something – anything – we'll fix it."

She looked down at her hands, unable to speak for a moment. She'd known, of course, that she was considered part of the family but to hear it from Esme in that way, pulled at her heart. She looked up again when the instinctive choked-up feeling of being loved passed, a sheepish look on her face. "Well, there is one thing that's been bugging me."

Esme nodded. "What's that?"

"Do we have to have a three-course meal at the reception? It's too expensive, too over-the-top. I'd much rather have an assortment of party trays."

"Is that it?" There was a vague chime of laughter laced in her words.

"You're laughing…"

"Not at you, trust me. Alice planned that because she thought it was more of what you wanted, not her. None of us, Alice especially, were very excited of the prospect of having to appear so rude at the reception of you into our family. She'll be very relieved."

"She thought I _wanted_ a three-course meal?"

"Yes."

"Clearly, she doesn't know me as well as she claims."

Esme offered a radiant smile. The streams of light coming in through the window managed to find her and she glowed. "Jasper seemed to think so too. He's been trying to talk sense to her for weeks, ever since she made arrangements with the caterer."

"I can't believe she thought I wanted that. I don't understand why she thought that…" she shook her head.

"I guess that after you took so kindly to her dance itinerary, that you would want a stretch of time to sit and relax."

Bella chuckled with dark humor, glaring right in front of her at an imaginary sister. "That's another thing. I will dance with Edward, first dance, last dance, any dance he insists on sweeping me into. And I will even go so far as to subject Charlie to the torture of a father-daughter dance if I have to and I will stand happily off on the sidelines as Edward dances with you. But that's all I'd really care for."

Esme was smiling. "I didn't think you really wanted to have a dance competition."

Her head snapped up, eyes wide with horror. "Alice planned a competition. When was she planning on telling me that? The day of?"

Esme was surprised. "You didn't know." At the shake of her head, she smiled sweetly and said, "Well don't worry about it. I'll keep the dancing toned down as much as possible. We'll have plenty of party trays…and cake."

"Yes, cake."

"Did you like the one Alice showed you?"

"The one you and Rosalie designed? Yes, Esme, I loved it."

A strange look passed over her face. Her golden eyes, alight with the glow of the sun, dimmed with the barest hint of sadness and a touch of the insight that comes with many years. It was obvious the conversation had taken a turn into much more poignant waters. The voice she spoke with was soft, understanding, "You know it really means a lot to him that you're letting Alice do this. I know it's not exactly how you wanted it but I can see he's happy that you've agreed to have a traditional ceremony."

Bella sighed and slouched against the pillows of the couch. She lifted her left hand up to admire Elizabeth Masen's ring in the filtered light coming through the window at an angle now. "He's sweet like that, isn't he? He wouldn't have argued with me over a wedding. He would've gone along with anything I said without any complaint at all."

"Most likely."

"Esme?" she sat up and turned to face the woman she'd come to think of as a mother. "What did I do to deserve him, really? Don't give me the same garbage he gives me when I ask him that. I'm serious."

"Bella, we live forever. Edward's been around for a hundred years and he's seen his share of good things and bad things. I don't know how it was decided that out of all the souls that have existed in the decades he's been alone that yours was destined to be with his, but it was. And I'm glad it was. It's not a question of whether or not you deserve him or he deserves you. The fact is that out of every girl he's encountered, you were the _only_ one capable of captivating him."

"That still doesn't answer the question. I have so much doubt over my ability to be enough for him. How could I, Bella Swan, be good enough of a wife to equal Edward Cullen?"

Esme paused and then spoke again, "Did you know Edward keeps a journal, of sorts?"

"Where did that come from?"

"Did you know?"

Bella shook her head, confused. This conversation had taken so many twists and turns, it was hard to keep up. "No. He's never mentioned it."

Esme smiled. "I didn't think so. Edward started this ongoing project of his a few months after I married Carlisle. He was concerned that, as the years passed us by and we survived our families, saw the world change, that he would forget what it was like to be human. He was afraid he would forget his mother and father. He didn't want to lose the seventeen years that Edward Masen lived to Edward Cullen's future. So he preserved his human life in journal form. He showed them to me when he was done and I felt like it was the first time I'd ever really known what his head was like."

"Why wouldn't he tell me about something like that?"

"He continued on, sporadically, writing down initial reactions to each new brother or sister as they came along. The amount he wrote increased when he met you. That's how I knew you were the one for him, even before he introduced you. He gave me permission to read whatever he wrote; he said since he read my thoughts, I should be able to read his.

"It took me by surprise, how one person could, out of nowhere, become the only thing at all that mattered in his life. In a matter of weeks, you were the only thing he saw of though of. That's how I know you are the only one Edward could ever love. I've seen how he's changed, how his thoughts have changed. Whatever promises he's made about devotion and eternity, he means them. He's going to change you because he loves you and it what _you_ want. It's not what he wants."

That sparked a flare of irritation in her. She sat up straight, eyes narrowed and tone frustrated. "I can't make him happy. There's no amazing option out there for us. What does he want from me?"

Esme had a response for that too. "Carlisle says that Edward never wished that he hadn't been changed. We've all gone through our phases, where we walked around depressed, mourning what we lost. Edward never did that. When I look at him now and I see him struggle with this decision to change you, I realized that he's going through it, just differently."

"What do you mean?"

"We were selfish: pining over the human things we lost. Edward isn't upset for himself. Deep down, his deepest desire is to be human again for you. So you won't feel torn between your humanity and your love for him. He thinks it's the only compromise that would actually give happiness to both of you."

"If that were possible, Esme…" her voice trailed and she lost herself for a moment in what ifs. It was glorious and heartbreaking. The thought of Edward's beating heart, candlelit dinners they both partook of. Too good to be true.

"I know, Bella, I know."

She was realistic again. "Will he be eternally depressed?" She stood and walked to the window to gaze out over the well-kept lawn of the Cullen house. Esme stayed where she sat.

"What do you mean?"

"Every time we talk about him changing me, he gets all depressed and even when I try to change the subject or make light of the situation, it never quite alleviates that pain in his eyes. Is that always gonna be there? I don't want to think that, sixty years from now, he'll still be having regrets that he stripped my humanity from me."

Esme didn't reply. Instead, she stood from the couch and crossed the room to join Bella at the window. She wrapped her arm around the younger woman's shoulders and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Edward loves you. Don't doubt that. Whatever doubts _he_ has will fade as time passes. The only thing I can tell you is to cherish the human things you do now. If he wants to do something and you don't, you should do it anyway because there will come a day when it'll mean something to you. Memories are a good thing to have."

"Are you speaking from experience?"

"To some degree. But I, at least, remember. Alice is the one I feel most sorry for. She never had the opportunity to cling to better times." Esme straightened. "That reminds me. I wanted to give you something."

"What?"

"Your wedding gift. I wanted you to have it in advance."

She made her way back over to the piano and motioned for Bella to follow. One the bench next to where Esme had been sitting was a neatly wrapped package. Bella took it when offered and sat down on the bench. She was mindful of the paper as she slid her finger under the taped edges. The last time she had opened a gift here had yielded disastrous results.

Inside there was a thick journal. The cover was deep blue in color, the color of late twilight, and was engraved in silver letters with the name _Isabella S. Cullen_. She ran her hand over the cover, fingers tracing the letters of the name she'd be taking as her own in a few day's time.

"Start writing the human memories now, while they're fresh. Fifty years from now, you'll be glad you did.

She wrapped her arms around Esme's neck. "Thank you, for everything."

"No, Bella, thank you." A moment later, Esme pulled away, looking at something across the room. Edward was watching them, and most likely had been for awhile. Bella was aware of her heart speeding up, like it always did in his presence, and of Esme's short laugh when she left the room. He crossed over to sit next to her.

"Have a nice chat?" he asked, bending over to touch his lips to hers. She pouted when he pulled away. "It must have been an interesting one, if her thoughts count for anything."

"If you're trying to get me to tell you what we were talking about, I'm not going to. It's none of your business," she laughed.

"Because it had nothing to do with me?"

"Because it had _everything_ to do with you."

Without another word, he pulled her close and kissed her properly. She sighed. This was home now.

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**Thanks for reading...Please review!**

**QUOTE FROM NEXT CHAPTER:**

**_"Well it's nice to know the mannequin I had Alice steal from the mall in Port Angeles went to good use."_**


	4. Vows

**This is the fourth chapter. I noticed a few typos in the first few chapters and will try to do better in the future. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Once again, all glory goes to Stephenie Meyer. We're just happy to borrow her creations for a little while.**

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_**Vows**_

"Writing my own vows was never a part of the arrangement, Alice," Bella snapped at the angelic face settled on her side on the sofa. She scrunched up her face in an effort to appear menacing and furious and hurled a crinkled ball of loose leaf notebook paper across the room to join others of its kind.

"Why would you not want to write your own vows?" she questioned. "If you use the standard recitation then you're just that – standard."

"I don't want to get married at all," she shot back. "If I had had my way, I would have been changed weeks ago. Instead I'm sitting here drafting out vows to marry someone I've already pledged eternity to. Why can't we use the traditional vows tomorrow?"

"Edward wants this to be special, Bella," Alice intoned quietly. "He's afraid that if he gives in you'll look back fifty years from now and wish you'd done it different."

"Still – "

"Do it for Edward."

"Don't pull the Edward card on me, Alice Cullen, you've done it everyday since he proposed."

"And it's worked beautifully everyday since he proposed," she laughed and rolled onto her back to stare up at the ceiling.

"I can't do this," Bella ranted and sent her pen flying across the room. It collided with the wall and fell to the ground with a click. There was a faint ink spot on the wall.

"Just pretend you're talking to him. In the actual ceremony, you will be. When you write them pretend that you are gazing into his eyes and that this is your one chance to level the playing field and profess in front of everyone that you love him as much as you say you do."

"That was almost poetic, Alice. I'm impressed."

"Just write the vows."

There was silence in the room, save for the sarcastic edge of a new felt tip pen scratching across a piece of paper.

"Edward – "

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" – my love, there is nothing in this world that I love more than hearing your beautiful laughter or seeing your face light up with a smile. You say that I dazzle you but no, Bella, you dazzle me. I – "

Edward glanced down at the stack of stapled papers in his arms. He sighed and slumped onto the leather couch in his room. He focused in on something in front of him.

"You don't think that was a little too obsessing, do you?"

Silence.

"Yeah, I thought so too."

"Well it's nice to know that the mannequin I had Alice steal from the mall in Port Angeles went to good use," Rosalie laughed as she entered the room. "Writing your vows, I assume."

"I've known what I wanted to say to her since the day I decided I was going to propose but now that it's come to writing them, I'm at a loss."

"It doesn't seem like you're at a loss to me," she teased motioning to papers in his hand. Before he could register what she was doing, she had them clutched in her own white fingers. "Eleven pages, front and back, typed in pt 11 font and practically no margins."

He grumbled under his breath. She handed the pages back to me and stood up. "I'll send Esme in here. You need help."

"Thanks a lot, Rose." His words dripped with sarcasm.

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"Do you think I can go back through and make the contractions two words? That'll make it longer."

Alice groaned in frustration. They had moved to the kitchen table for better lighting. "Is that all Edward is worth to you?"

"Look Alice, Edward means everything in the world to me. I don't see why I'm trying to write vows when there are no words that can express how I feel. Emotions can't be put on paper," Bella fumed.

Alice was smiling. "That's what you should write down."

"Huh?"

"Write that there are no words. Express yourself that way."

"Isn't that cliché?"

"Nothing about the two of you is cliché, that's the problem. You two have wandered about as far into uncharted territory as is possible. That's why no one knows what they're doing anymore."

"What if I lapsed into Spanish? Would that be better? We could do the traditional vows in another language. That's it! It's standard and unique at the same time."

"Bella," Alice moaned.

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"Edward, I think you should cut out the French poem," Esme noted. She fell onto her back, propping her head on the armrest. His papers were in one hand and there was a red ink-pen in the other. "And page nine. It disrupts the flow you created on page eight."

"All of page nine?"

"All of it," she agreed. "I think most of twelve and thirteen are going to have to go too."

"But twelve and thirteen are where I describe how our relationship has conquered all of its challenges," he protested.

Esme sat up and put the papers and the pen on the table in front of her. Edward sat at the piano, playing Mozart mindlessly, while staring at the wall in deep thought.

"Every page is important to you, dear," she acknowledged, "because you love her. But vows are a promise that you announce before other people. It is not necessary that they know the hows and whys – only that you love her and swear to love her forever. Whatever is important on these papers, make them each one small thought. Everyone who really matters knows what lies between the lines."

"I guess you're right," he admitted. She stood up and came over to where he sat. She patted him on the shoulder before exiting the room.

"I have to get things ready for tomorrow," he heard her say. He closed his eyes. Tomorrow…Tomorrow was the day he had been looking forward to for so long. It was the day that every confession that had ever passed between them would solidify into a promise that would withstand anything the future thought to throw at them.

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**Hope you enjoyed it... next chapter "Almost"**

**QUOTE FROM ALMOST:**

**_"Don't look so betrayed, Bella."_**


	5. Almost

**Chapter Four!! This story is moving quite along...We hope you enjoy!!**

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**_Almost_**

"I will not be your Barbie doll!" Bella cried, erupting from the monstrous bedroom that belonged to Alice Cullen. Half of her brown locks were coiled tightly around rollers and she tripped over the hem of a full-length thin, satin robe. She clutched a cosmetic bag in her left hand, the zipper halfway undone and tubes of lipstick fell out of it onto the floor.

"Bella get back in here, your nails aren't dry yet," Alice whined from within.

"I don't care about my nails, Alice!"

"You should," she said in defense as she strolled pleasantly out of the room. She was twisting the cap to a bottle of crimson polish and eyeing her with a look of disdain.

"Bella," Rosalie's voice floated down the hall just a few seconds before its owner arrived. She appraised the situation with a swift glance of her topaz eyes and then stifled a bell-like laugh. "Don't you look stunning."

"Come on, Bella, we've got work to do," Alice proclaimed. She pocketed the small bottle of polish and took hold of Bella's elbow. With a determined look, she dragged the bride into the bedroom and Bella shot a desperate glance towards the other.

"Help me," she mouthed. Rosalie laughed and bent over to retrieve the fallen lipstick and a tube of mascara. Esme materialized behind her, lips upturned in a faint grin.

"How's our hostage holding up?" she inquired.

"As well as was expected. I think it's going to take all three of us to get her ready in time," Rosalie offered. Alice poked her head out of the room.

"I require assistance," she stated bluntly and disappeared once more. With a shrug, Esme followed on with Rosalie on her heels.

Bella was seated in a chair by a mirror. Several of the rollers had fallen from her hair in the struggle and the white of the robe was smudged with red streaks from her nails. She had her head turned away from them, the remnants of a childish "humph" still on her lips.

Alice came at them, hands on her hips and a stern appearance floating in the air around her. "We have exactly three hours, twenty-nine minutes and fifty-three seconds to perform a miracle."

"Two hours? Why?" Rosalie questioned. "The wedding's at six o'clock. That gives us five hours to get this done."

"True, but I forsee us arriving at the church at four forty-five so we need to get started now, while there is still plenty of time," she agreed with one stiff nod of her head.

"You're talking like I'm not in the room," Bella grumbled.

"Esme fix her nails, Rosalie do her makeup," Alice ordered. "I'm going to try to make some sense out of her hair."

Each of them nodded and set about accomplishing their assigned jobs. Bella slapped the first few hands that came near her away. Instead of an apologetic look, like she was hoping for, Esme gifted her with an amused expression and proceeded to exert a little more force into her grip on her wrist. The pungent fumes of acetone filled the bedroom as she took cotton balls to Bella's smudged fingernails.

"Don't look so betrayed, Bella," Alice teased. Bella glared at the reflection in the mirror before cold hands began tugging at clumps of her hair. She snapped her eyes shut and swallowed the words that rose to her lips. A lukewarm towel, damp but not dripping, touched down on her cheekbone. She popped two brown eyes open before scrunching them up again as Rosalie assaulted her face.

"I don't want to do this anymore!"

"Don't you want to look nice for Edward on your wedding day?"

"No."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't.

"Bella do you want to wear your hear up, down, or half pulled up?"

"I don't care Alice!"

"What do you think Rose?"

Bella jerked her head away and sat as far back as the seat would allow. Esme glanced at her from over her shoulder.

"Would you please stop treating me like I'm some sort of guinea pig?"

A faint look of hurt passed over Alice's face. Bella's eyes widened; it was the same look that had been in her dream. "Bella…"

She hung her head. It was a waste of time to try to get them to leave her alone. There was no reason why she and Edward couldn't have just gone to Vegas, said a few "I do's" and been done with it. Instead every human resident, or inhuman for that matter, of Forks had been invited to a ceremony more outlandish than anything.

She waved her hand in surrender, "Just do it. Do whatever you want; I won't stop you. Just nothing too fancy."

"Is a French twist too fancy?"

"Why can't you just find a normal person clip, pull it back and have a few loose curls?"

Alice was contemplative for a moment. She tapped her chin with a slender white finger before a smile lit her face and she released a bell-like laugh. "That's a great idea. Rose, go for natural colors. A lot of browns and beiges and some rosy tints. Forget about the dramatic stuff I told you about."

Bella stifled a sigh and allowed herself to be repositioned in the vanity chair so Alice could have easy access to her hair and Rosalie could work her magic with her face.

Esme took her by the hand just as Alice finished with the two ringlets that framed her face.

"It accentuates the eyes," she had commented.

Rosalie exited the walk-in closet with the full-length garment bag which housed her dress. Her fingers were pulling at the zipper even as she asked, "Are we ready for the dress?"

Alice circled her, appraising the work they had accomplished. She reached forward and held her chin, turned it side-to-side before she gave her answer.

"I think we are. We'll put the veil on and try to get the shoes on when we get to the church. Esme, make sure you bring the lipstick with you. She's going to get a drink of water and take a lot of it off."

After much persuasion, Bella slipped the thin robe from her shoulders. Alice had forced her into all kinds of restraining pieces of material to "hold any imperfections in place" prior to hair and make-up; the corset-styled piece was just taut enough to make breathing a bit difficult. She slipped on the dress, holding onto Alice's shoulder for balance. The last thing she needed was to trip and rip the thing in two.

Esme laced the back of the sleeveless dress before she stepped back next to Alice and Rosalie to admire their handiwork. It took a moment for the radiant smile to flash onto Alice's face but when it did, she reached forward and grabbed Bella by the elbow and brought her to stand in front of a full-length mirror.

She barely even recognized herself. The shape and embellishments of the dress hung on the contours of her body, curving as she did. It lengthened her torso and made her stomach and waist slender. This was all accomplished in a simplistic elegance that made her out as a demure goddess. It was perhaps the only time Bella hadn't felt completely out of place beside her new family.

"You look beautiful Bella."

"Thank you," she turned and flung her arms around her neck. "Thank you Alice."

"You're very welcome, Bella."

Esme appeared beside her. "We need to get going if we're going to meet the deadline you set for us, Alice."

She pulled away and bustled about the room. By the time her circle was complete, her arms were full of a variety of different things. Rosalie held her veil and the box with her shoes. An assortment of make-up and hair products had been stuffed into cosmetic bags and Alice drug a bag out of the closet.

"Is the car out front?" she asked, looking up from the bag.

"Yes."

"Esme will you carry Bella out to the car? I don't want to run the risk of her ruining the dress or tripping on it and breaking her neck on the way outside."

Bella glared. "You really don't have any confidence in me, do you?"

"None whatsoever."

Cold marble arms wrapped around her and before she had come up with a proper retort to Alice's sarcastic yet dead serious comment about her reliability, Esme was helping her with the skirts of her dress as she climbed into Edward's "special occasion" vehicle. While she was relieved that he hadn't insisted on a limo with police escort, she had a split second thought about how their wedding only made it to the standard of "special occasion".

"Don't worry, Bella, he has a nice limo waiting for your journey to the airport. It'll be a long ride, don't you worry."

How was it that Alice always seemed to know what she was thinking. Reading minds was Edward's talent. Esme slid into seat next to her, trying her hardest not to laugh.

Rosalie took a place in the driver's seat. "We ready?"

"Yes, we are."

Despite the heavy tint of the windows, a ray of sunlight managed to pierce through enough to play tricks of light with the diamonds of her engagement ring. It kept her mind occupied, and for the most part oblivious, to the six anxious, butterscotch eyes that watched her the whole ride through town.

The parking lot to the small, pretty church was still mostly empty when Rosalie parked the car near the back entrance. Alice came around and opened the door.

"It is a beautiful ring, isn't it?" she commented. Bella nodded, not even bothering to try to get out on her own. It wasn't worth it. Rosalie came around to join them, arms full of everything deemed necessary to perfect the bride.

"Edward's dad had pretty good tastes when he gave this to her," she rattled off. Esme laughed and lifted the short train of the dress. They made an interesting sight walking inside. Rosalie with her arms full, Alice all but carrying the bride, Esme with the train, and Bella still admiring how the facets of the diamonds played with the light. She continued even as Alice sat her down on a stool to reapply makeup and add final touches to her hair.

The only coherent statement she made occurred when Rosalie made the mistake of grabbing her hands to see if the manicure had been damaged in any way.

"Hey! I cannot see my ring if you take my hand away. I need my hand. Give it back."

"This must be an entirely new breed of pre-wedding jitters," Alice mumbled.

This new Bella was easier to work with, so long as the third finger of her left hand was visible at all times. The time passed shorter than anticipated but nevertheless, Bella's arm was linked with Charlie, bouquet of flowers hand-picked from the meadow in hand, just as the beginning notes of the music began to play.

Bella lifted her gaze from Elizabeth Masen's ring with the first notes of the wedding march. Her eyes scanned over the crowd of people and locked on Edward, pale-faced and glorious at the altar. Charlie squeezed her arm to reassure her. She took a deep breath, lifted her heeled foot and tried not to stumble into the first step of her new life.

**Hope you enjoyed it... next chapter "Gliding"**

**QUOTE FROM "GLIDING":**

**_"Do you want another bite?"_**


	6. Gliding

**hey everyone!! We just wanted to gloat for a second...there have been 550 hits...8 reviews...10 alerts...and...8 favorites!! yay!! we know that this chapter is a little late...but we had to party last night...it was Madi's birthday party... but her birthday is actually the SECOND OF AUGUST!! HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT?! ok i think that was enough exclamtion and question marks! hehe we hope you enjoy this new chapter..."  
****On with the show.  
Disclaimer: We do NOT own anything. Thank you Stephenie for letting us borrow your characters!**

_**Gliding**_

Regardless of the fit she'd thrown after learning the cost, the wedding cake Alice had ordered for the reception was an incredibly good tasting cake. The cake itself was of the perfect consistency and the icing achieved balance with its rich creaminess and slightly whipped texture.

"Is that your third piece, too, Angela?" Bella asked. She joined her friend near the buffet table, holding a plate with a sizable slice of cake.

"Between you and me, yes, it is. Where did you find this?"

"Alice got it at a bakery in Seattle," Bella answered between mouthfuls. "Most expensive thing I've ever eaten but it's worth every bit, I think."

"It definitely is," Angela agreed. She took another bite before wondering aloud, her eyes on Alice across the room in the middle of a crowd of people, "You don't mingle as well as she does."

"These shoes are too tall and the skirt of this dress is too complicated for me to risk taking any unnecessary steps." She replied. "If someone has something to say, they can come find me."

"That is not a very welcoming, kind thing to be saying," his velvet voice scolded, holding a token of amusement in it as well. An arm slipped about her waist, cooling her through the fabric of her dress.

Bella couldn't be irritated anymore with the wedding after she looked up into his eyes. The face he showed held the appropriate level of happiness and contentment with his new role as husband but his eyes were triumphant with his joy. She flicked the fingers of her left hand without realizing it. Nothing that made him that happy could be a bad thing.

Angela laughed, bringing her back to reality. "She was just being honest, Edward, you know how she is."

"Oh, I know. Clumsy Bella…"

"Let's see if we can get through the reception without a catastrophe."

Bella lifted another bite to her lips. Angela questioned, "Edward, aren't you having any cake? This is our third piece."

He grimaced thinking about the tradition of shoving cake into the opposite spouse's mouth that took place a matter of minutes ago. Quick as ever though he came back with an answer, he shrugged, "The nervousness of the wedding day…I guess my appetite hasn't come back yet."

"Well you should try the cake. If that doesn't bring it back then nothing will"

He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Here you go, Edward." Bella offered, holding the fork up to him. She shifted toward him so Angela couldn't see the mocking expression on her face. His eyes narrowed but he took the bite she held out to him and tired not to grimace when he chewed.

Bella had deliberately smeared some icing onto his upper lip so, when she handed him the frilly napkin to wipe it off, he could go about spitting the bite out. He leaned over to kiss her forehead and whispered, "thank you."

"Want another bite?"

He shook his head, grinning. "No, love, you eat it. It's yours. But, you're right Angela; it was a very good cake."

She nodded, sure that she had just missed out on some huge exchange between the new Mr. and Mrs. She decided that ignoring it was the best option and changed the subject. "So where are you headed for your honeymoon?"

"No idea. He won't tell me. He even had Alice pack my bag!" She shrugged, looking at Edward with a disapproving look, "Hopefully, some place where the sun actually shines for more than three minutes a day."

Angela chuckled. Edward leaned into her a little more and whispered, "Only a little while longer."

He took her hand in his and led her back to the dance floor, despite her protests. It didn't matter that she wasn't actually dancing on her own; the thought of showcasing yourself in front of so many people was far too intimidating for her. "Edward, you know I can't dance. I told you I would only dance for the first dance as husband and wife."

His eyes lit up. She froze, backtracking to replay the conversation in her mind and rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't have missed her use of the terms "husband and wife". And of course he would love to hear it, knowing full well her disdain for matrimony. She guessed it was something he had been longing to hear for ninety years.

"I know, _wife, _but please do this for me. I want to savor this night with you."

She consented to how ever many dances made him happy. He'd given her enough that she could let him have this small thing. If she were honest with herself, she almost enjoyed it. They glided across the floor with uncanny grace. Alice danced her way over to the DJ and took the mic from him, announcing the happy couple was leaving, even before Edward had told her that he thought they should go.

"Are you ready?" He bent to whisper in her ear.

"For forever?" she smiled. He grasped her hand, placed a kiss on it, playing with the wedding band that now adorned her third finger.

"I am, if you are." All traces of the uncertainty he'd been displaying had vanished.

"She's been ready since the day in biology she almost fainted, Edward. Don't doubt yourself" whispered Alice, so low that only Edward could hear. She wrapped her cold arms around Bella and then took the two of them by the arm, all but throwing in the direction of the doors. He traced a hand over the blush that formed on her face from all the attention she was receiving.

Edward picked her up bridal style. He carried her all the way to the limo and set her gently inside. He slid in next to her, never letting go of the encouraging grip he had on her left hand. The driver closed the door. She shifted to gaze out of the tinted windows; Charlie was craning his neck over the others gathered around to get a look at the limo. She gazed at him and whispered, "Goodbye. I love you."

He heard her and the next moment she was pressed into his shoulder, encircled within his arms. She let herself be comforted, focusing only on the words of devotion and love he whispered into her ear. Alice had known of course that she would need waterproof makeup for when she failed to hold back the stinging tears that now plagued her eyes.

"Shh, it's alright. It's going to be okay, love, I swear. It'll be okay." She pulled herself closer to him, needing him now more than she ever had before.

"I know," she gasped, doing her best to bring her emotions back under control. "It still doesn't make it any easier."

He shook his head, pressing kiss after kiss onto the crown of her head. "This doesn't have to be the end, you know that. You don't have to do this."

She pushed against his shoulders and looked into his topaz eyes. She made an effort not to gasp out her words when she spoke, "I know. I've already made up my mind. To spend eternity with you is worth giving up the world and everything and everyone in it." She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him, "Can we not talk about this anymore?"

The expected fake smile beneath still pained eyes never came. His smile was radiant and true. "Of course, darling."

"Good. So where are we going anyway?" She furrowed back into his arms, happier now. Whatever direction her life took was fine now.

"Nope. I'm not going to tell you!" he kissed away her quizzical look. She was mesmerized and in the dazzling effect he still had on her, even after the time they'd been together, forgot about what she had wanted him to tell her.

The hour passed by before she realized the clock was even ticking. Time played tricks with her mind when she was with him. She looked at him, curious, when he helped her climb out of the limo. "Edward, we didn't go home to get the bag."

He laughed, as if wondering why she was just now noticing this. "I know. They were in the trunk the whole time."

The driver came around with two suitcases and an ominous hanging bag in his arms. Bella eyed him with an untrusting look in her eye, trying to figure out what was in the bag. He grabbed her hand and kissed the diamond of rings. She followed him blindly through the thick double doors, not even noticing the woman seated at the desk in the small front lobby.

"Hello, reservations for Mr. and Mrs. Cullen." He smiled at the title, gazing into her chocolate eyes.

The woman behind the desk mumbled under her breath. Bella couldn't decipher a word she was saying but she knew Edward hadn't missed a syllable. Then looked up and said, "Right through the single door to your right, the pilot will be waiting for you."

He pulled her by her arms, grin enormous and contradicting with the furious and scathing accusation on his new wife's face. She managed to latch onto the door as they passed. He could have dragged her on if he'd wanted to but he humored her, pausing to look at her when she pouted in the doorway.

"What did she mean by 'your pilot will be waiting for you?' You didn't get a plane did you?" She froze, horror on her face. "Oh. My. God. You bought a plane!?"

He shook his head, unrepentant. "No I didn't; I just chartered it for three weeks."

She rolled her eyes, but allowed him to continue on his hurried trek. "Edward! You did not charter a plane! Wait we are going to be gone for three weeks?"

He nodded. "Yes. Is that a problem?

"Edward, you know I don't like you spending money on me!"

He rolled his eyes. "I know but, it's our money now. I will spend it anyway I want and you can spend it anyway you want."

The pilot met us at the plane's door. It was a huge Bombardier CL-600 Challenger. She stared at him when he announced that, not caring about technicalities like that any more than she normally did.

He supported her weight as they boarded the plane, so she wouldn't trip and fall. He unzipped her dress in the private bedroom, helping her get out of the trappings Alice had snared her in before he went outside to wait. She changed and joined him on one of the couches. He was flipping through an airplane magazine. Once she was seated between his legs, his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her up into his lap.

"Hmm, I could get used to this." Edward sighed, resting his chin on her shoulder. He pressed a kiss onto her collarbone.

"Me, too," she breathed and reached behind her to twine her fingers in his, bringing his hand over her shoulder so she could kiss his wedding band. The ebony sky brought a wave of exhaustion on her. She leaned back into his chest and let her eyes drift closed her eyes as Edward hummed her lullaby in her ear. She hadn't meant to fall asleep but she knew, when she relaxed into his embrace and felt him relax around her, she was a lost cause.

It wasn't long before she felt his lips on her cheekbone, whispering, "Come on, Mrs. Cullen, it's time to wake up. Bella Cullen," he sang. Even in her sleepy delirium, she didn't miss the joy in his voice when he said, "Bella Cullen, we're here."

"Mmm, Bella Cullen," she mumbled, still too far gone to be considered awake. The circles he traced along her lower back felt wonderful. Going back to sleep was far too tempting. The cool lips returned, this time under her jaw.

"Bella Cullen you need to wake up! We're here!"

"Alright, alright I'm up." She turned in his arm and kissed shoulder. "Good morning."

"It _is_ a good morning," he agreed.

She pulled herself back into a good sleep position in his arms, eyes closed again. "So where are we, anyway?"

He kissed both cheeks and lifted her up bridal style once more. "This is Elizabeth Island in the Bahamas. Welcome to your home for the next three weeks."

* * *

**Well?? What did you think? Please review! **

**Quote from "_Paradise_"**

**_"Married life suits you, Bella."_**


	7. Paradise

**Hey everyone! It is my fault that the story wasn't updated like it was supposed to be. I have had a fantastically busy weekend...(is that how you spell fantastically?) So the schedule will be sped up a little. Today three chapters will posted...we are trying to get this finished before D-Day...a.k.a. august 2! hehe so we hope you enjoy and please review...it really gives us a boost of confidence...i didn't realize what it does for an author until it happened to us!! **

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We do NOT own anything everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Thank you for letting us borrow your characters!!**

_**Paradise**_

She was awakened to the strange sensation of being warm and cool at the same time. She squeezed her eyes shut and tired to curl up within the sheets but instead of a cozy little ball she felt Edward suppress a laugh as his cold marble grip tightened around her. She popped one eye open and was met with a glorious image of a shirtless Edward glittering in the morning sun.

"Edward it's too early. What are we doing?"

"You aren't doing anything. I'm carrying you to breakfast. I made you pancakes."

"Ooh, with blueberries?"

"Of course," he laughed.

"And what else do we have planned today? Did you create a detailed list of planned outings when you rented this private island for three weeks?"

"Nothing. Just you and me."

"That sounds like fun," she teased and buried her face in the curve of his neck. He came to a stop in front of a cushioned rocking chair on the front porch. The salty breeze blew through their hair.

"Are you hinting at something, Mrs. Cullen?"

He placed her, with all the care he could, in the chair and pulled the table with the plates of breakfast towards her. She picked up the bowl of fresh fruit and lifted half a strawberry to her lips before she laughed out, "Maybe, maybe not."

He shook his head and hopped up onto the railing of the porch. His butterscotch eyes watched her as she set the bowl of fruit back down in favor of the stack of blueberry pancakes drizzled in maple syrup and powdered sugar. She took a bite and, after swallowing, commented, "You know this is enough pancakes for the rest of the week. I'm gonna feel really wasteful throwing half of it away. There are starving children in Africa who would love to eat this excellent breakfast you've made for me."

He chuckled to himself and shifted into a position that put more of his shoulders and arms into the path of the direct sunlight. "I'll make a substantial donation. Will that put your guilt to rest?"

She popped another bite into her mouth. "How do you know your 'substantial donation' will even make it to those starving kids, hmm?"

"How about I book a plane to the Sudan and we spend the rest of our honeymoon flipping pancakes for the orphans?"

"We could create a presentation like at those Japanese restaurants, where they cook it in front of you. Except it'll be pancakes and omelets instead of fried rice and chicken."

"I can't say I've ever been to a place like that. I've heard of them but I've never actually been to one."

"We'll have to find one on the main island. I know you won't eat anything but you could still say you'd had the experience."

"I'll look into it. Now, eat. I can guarantee that pancakes are probably better when their warm."

"I must say, for someone who's never eaten what he cooks, these are some pretty good pancakes."

"Then eat 'em"

"Yes, sir."

"You're almost as sarcastic as Jasper. It's unreal."

Bella choked on a bite of banana as she said, "Jasper's sarcastic. I don't believe it."

"There's a lot you don't know about Jasper, you know."

"It's not like we sit around and talk for house. Not that I'm complaining. I know he only does it to be cautious. Once things settle down after you change me I'll have to do that."

"I think he'd like that. He loves you just as much as any of them. Just from a distance."

"I know,"she groaned a little and set the plate of blueberry pancakes. Edward hopped off the railing and knelt before her. He crossed his arms on her knees. "What's wrong, love?"

She bent forward and kissed his cheek. "You made too much food."

He was thoughtful a moment. "So how substantial does my donation need to be? You didn't eat three pancakes or half the fruit and you didn't even touch your eggs."

She leaned back and peered around a pitcher of apple juice. "I didn't even see those."

"Was there something wrong with the kiwi?"

"I don't particularly care for kiwi, Edward, but those were perfect strawberries."

"Nice to know. For future reference."

She leaned forward again and captured his lips in a soft, sweet kiss. She smiled, pecked his lips again, before settling back in the chair once more. He snatched her hands and trapped them in his. He played with her fingers, never breaking eye contact with her.

She sighed, at peace with the world. "So what time is it?"

"About noon, maybe a little after."

She raised her eyebrows. "That late? Why'd you let me sleep in so late?"

He shrugged and presented her with a face of angelic innocence. "I was watching you sleep, playing with your hair and just thinking about everything, you know. I lost track of time. And then I made breakfast before I woke you up and I burnt the first batch of pancakes—"

"Double your substantial donation."

He smiled, "So you see, it was my fault. But you needed the sleep, I think." His smile turned smug. "I wore you out."

She slapped his hand away. "Another boost to your ego."

She made as if she were about to say something else but didn't; a slight flush covered her cheeks. He sighed in frustration.

"Bella, please say what you're thinking. I can't stand not knowing…"

She shook her head, a grin forming on her face. He trailed a finger up her arm and she shook her head again.

"Please…" he purred.

"Quit trying to dazzle me, Edward. It won't work this time!"

"Won't it?" He got up on his knees and placed a chaste kiss on her collar bone. He rained the barest of kisses all along her jawbone and the pulse just below her hear.

Out of nowhere she shoved against his shoulders and pushed him back. He release her hands to catch himself and she leapt passed him, laughing as she tripped her way through the hallway inside the small cottage. Edward followed her at a human pace. He took advantage of her stumble near the sofa and grabbed her wrist. When she went down he allowed himself to be pulled down on top of her. Bella laughed again and looked deep into his warm eyes.

He dipped closer to her and, just before his lips came in contact with hers, he paused and commented, "You know, married life suits you, Bella; you've lost just about all your inhibitions."

She rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Will you shut up and kiss me?"

He chuckled. "If you insist."

* * *

"Edward? Will you please zip this up for me?"

Alice had stashed a dress in the suitcase before she waved them off to their honeymoon. At first it had annoyed Bella but she was happy that Alice had respected her mild disdain for frivolity and chosen to include a deep crimson dress that was simple and demure in its elegance.

Edward came into the closet with his hair still dripping from his shower after their day spent splashing each other in the ocean. He hummed her lullaby in her ears as he took his time zipping up the back of her dress.

"Don't forget to rub some aloe on your shoulders before we leave," he reminded her, resting his cool hands on the overheated skin of her bare sun burnt shoulders.

She turned to face him but motioned for him to keep his hands on her shoulders. "We might have to take advantage of the wonderfully shaded swimming pool we have at our disposal tomorrow. I'm likely to be a lobster by the end of the week if we don't. I burn easily."

"Well maybe if you actually used the sunscreen we brought, you wouldn't have this problem."

She pulled away and moved around him to grab her shoes off the floor. "If you could tan or burn, you wouldn't be making fun of me."

"Don't mean to disappoint you, Bella, but I never burned even when I was human."

"Figures."

"Are you ready?"

"As soon as I put some of this on," she sighed and knelt beside the suitcase. After a few minutes rummaging, she emerged with a bottle of aloe Vera lotion.

"Take your time. The sun doesn't set for about twenty-five minutes. I don't want to take any chances."

She squeezed some of the cool, pale green lotion into her hand and began to rub it onto her red skin. "You're living like a real vampire here. You only go out in public at night."

"But I get to spend every day in the sunlight when it's just me and you. We haven't had a cloudy day so far and the forecast doesn't suggest that we should expect any."

"Expect the unexpected."

"Alice doesn't foresee bad weather."

A thousand sarcastic remarks flooded her mind at the thought of the pixie-like sister-in-law who had dreamed up just about every detail of her wedding. Some were kind, some were forced to be polite, most were borderline murderous over her recent actions. She settled for silence and had her bottom lip between her teeth. Of course, Edward noticed.

"You know she means well," he said, coming up behind to slip his arms around her waist. He pressed his face into the curve where her neck met her shoulder. She ceased all movement save for the rise and fall of her chest.

"She's still going to owe me for a century. The planning was worse than the ceremony. And she went against my wishes and stashed stuff in my suitcase without me knowing. Like this dress."

"This dress is lovely on you. Alice did a good job picking it out. I remember when she bought it. You were with Esme and Rosalie looking at the cake. She knew exactly what she was looking for. I was proud of her for not buying the sequined dress with the halter and revealing neckline. I don't think you would've liked it."

"No probably not—wait, you knew she bought this dress?!"

Bella spun out of his embrace, albeit reluctantly, and placed her hands on her hips. He wasn't even attempting to feign innocence.

"The dress was my idea. The other more, uh, revealing of, um, feminine garments—"

"The lingerie she slipped in?"

"Yes that, I did _not_ tell her to buy clothing of that variety. That was her own idea."

Bella laughed. "If it had been your idea I'd say that I'd married a stranger because if the same person who had been so adamant about preserving our virtues had suggested to Alice that she buy me lingerie for my wedding night..."

"Yeah, yeah, are you ready?"

She put the lotion bottle on the bathroom counter and washed her hands. "I am if you are. Are we going to the Italian Café on the main island that you pointed out the other day or somewhere else?"

"It doesn't matter to _me_," he pointed out. "What do you want?"

"Italian sounds good."

It was a short boat ride to the dock where the restaurant was nestled. Once they arrived Bella realized the shoes that she donned were not designed for any type of walking. When she glanced down at her feet in the light of the café, she could already make out the beginnings of a few very mean-looking blisters.

The waitress took their drink orders, two cokes, and Bella laughed. "At least this time around, our waitress is an elderly woman, not some young one, and probably has grandkids our age."

Edward shook his head, "You're still jealous over that waitress at Port Angeles the night…"

"The first time you took me to dinner," she finished for him. That night, too, had made it to her Top 10 list of best nights. It was the time Edward had proven he cared and when she'd learned the truth. The fact that he had saved her from the scum of the Earth had just added to it.

"So are you excited to be going back home in a few days?" he asked.

"No and yes." He raised a brow. She elaborated, "Am I excited about leaving this paradise where the only people in the world are me and you? No. Am I excited about seeing Alice and the rest of your family again? Yes. No and Yes."

He didn't say anything for a moment and when he did, he whispered. "Our family, Bella."

She smiled, "Our family."

The elderly waitress came back. "Ready to order?"

Bella ordered the four cheese lasagna. Edward, to her complete shock, also placed an order. He asked for fettuccine alfredo, another of her favorites. She arched an eyebrow when they were alone once more. To her expression, he shrugged and said, "Lunch tomorrow. It saves us the trouble."

"Always thinking ahead," she shook her head. The waitress was back the next moment with their food. "Thank you."

"Do you have a preference for what we do after dinner? Or would you rather go home early tonight?"

"It doesn't matter to me. I picked last night. It's your turn."

They, or rather she, ate in silence, enjoying the feeling of being with each other. One moment, she looked up to find him gone and in the instant it took her to blink, he was back in his seat, picking at a noodle with his fork, as if he'd never left. A portion of the insane amount of food on the plate had been emptied.

"There's a trash can just inside the kitchen so I disposed of what I 'ate' without anyone knowing. Wouldn't want to be rude," he told her. She rolled her eyes.

Twenty minutes later, they were strolling down the sidewalk, his arm about her shoulders. "What are we doing the rest of the night, Mrs. Cullen?"

"I don't know." He eyes roamed the window of the Shoppe's around them but stopped when she saw the last one on the other side of the street, despite the DO NOT WALK sign. Edward appeared next to her, murder on his face. She laughed outright.

"Bella—" She cut him off and yanked him inside. The fury melted to a dumbfounded expression at the sight of the assortments of cribs, rocking chairs, bassinets, and racks of infant clothing he was surrounded with. "What the—"

"Edward," Bella motioned for him to follow her. She disappeared into an aisle of baby blankets. One in particular caught her eye and she unfolded it, holding it up. The material was soft but warm and pale green in color. The edges were embroidered with little flowers. Her happy, teasing mood faded away and she lost touch with the joke this trip was supposed to have been. It was all sinking in, that she would never buy a blanket for a baby of her own. His arm slipped around her waist and his voice whispered in her ear, "Bella, love, maybe this was a bad idea."

Of course she couldn't fool him. She folded the blanket and put it back. He led her out of the store and out into the clear night air. For an instant, she recalled the imagined future of herself with Jacob – her heart clenched – and she allowed herself to explore a maternal side of her personality, one she'd never acknowledged before. Just for a moment, she whisked herself away to another world where she saw a little boy, a replica of Edward, running to her.

"Bella?" she looked at him. They were within view of the little house they'd been staying in, the water rippling off the idling boat. She smiled, "You would have been a great daddy."

That night, Edward lay next to her, listening to the steady rhythm of her heart beating as she slept. The talking would begin soon. On cue, she mumbled something incoherent. He leaned closer. She was shushing someone, "Sh, sh, don't cry…mommy's got you …daddy…Edward, the baby…"

His eyes widened. With a sigh, he disappeared. A few minutes passes and he was back holding a white bag, with he put in his own suitcase. He never noticed the pale green fabric that peeked from within the plastic.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!! please review and look out for another chapter today!! **

**Quote from "_Altered_" **

_**"Stop the damn beeping**."_

**Try and figure that one out!! **


	8. Altered

**Ok here it is!! Time has passed slightly…they are back from their honeymoon…any everybody knows what is going to happen after the honeymoon! Hehe hint hint wink wink! But these a/n are getting rather long don't you think. So off with her head! Wow….this isn't Alice in wonder land. Wrong story. But on with it!**

**Disclaimer: We do not own anything. Any similarities/likeness to the Twilight series belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Thanks for letting us borrow your characters!!**

* * *

_**Altered**_

She sat motionless on the carpet in Alice's bedroom, eyes straight ahead, unblinking. Her back was to the door. For the most part, she was calm and under control. It wouldn't last, she knew, but she appreciated it while it lasted. She shook her head, smiling; Jasper must not have gone far, just far enough. The door opened to allow Alice entry. She paused, not two feet from the opened door. Voices bounced down the hall.

"Edward, are you even listening to me?" Bella blinked in surprise. It was the closest Carlisle Cullen had ever come to snapping at someone.

"I'm sorry." He didn't sound at all apologetic.

"I'll be standing right outside the door when you do this," he repeated. "The others will be far enough away that the scent of her blood won't affect them but close enough that Jasper will still be able to calm you both. And I'm sure Alice will want to be right back in here for the difficult days ahead."

She couldn't help the momentary jolt of her heart. It was calmed somewhat by the woman in question dancing to her side, radiant smile on her ashen face. She missed Edward's words but his voice eased her fears.

"Come on, Bella," she sang. "It's time."

She took the offered hand and was hoisted to her feet. Despite the brave face she put on, her legs were useless. This time nothing calmed the sporadic beating of her heart. She stood tall and tried to look at ease with the situation, but she knew that he would see right through it, he always did.

Carlisle reached her first, coming down the hallway outside Edward's room.

"Everything will be fine, Bella, I promise," he assured her.

"Don't worry, my love," his was the voice she needed to hear. He walked around his father and swept her up in a gentle embrace. She wrapped her arms around him and breathed his scent until she felt her heart slow down. "Don't worry."

She leaned back enough to give him a small smile. "I'm not worried, Edward, I'm not. There's a difference between being worried and being nervous. I'll be fine."

Alice pulled her out of his arms and hugged her, then kissed her forehead. "It'll be okay, Bella. Carlisle will be right here and the rest of us will be just outside."

She forced a laugh. "I know."

She nodded, hugged her again, and loped down the hall. She was humming to herself, and for a split second Bella wondered if anyone besides Edward could really understand what went on inside her head. She turned back around to face him. He was watching Carlisle, face tense.

"Edward?" Her voice was tiny, even to her own ears. He looked back to her. His golden eyes were hesitant, fearful, searching. And he must have found what he was looking for in her own eyes because in the next instant, they had changed to hold pure determination and unconditional love. She whispered again, "I'm ready."

He was still for a long moment, watching her. And then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Some part of her mind registered that they were moving but she didn't realize this in full until she felt the soft mattress beneath her. A wave of calm washed over her, quelling the anxieties she was trying to hide. He ducked his head to stare straight into her eyes.

She reached up to trace her fingers – which trembled despite her strong exterior – over his cheekbones.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," he pleaded. But she could tell he knew that she'd made up her mind.

"I've made my decision, Edward," she laughed. "I want this more than anything."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

His eyes told her there wouldn't be another moment to hesitate. It would come and go before she realized what was going on. To make it easy for both of them. He kissed her, a whisper on her lips he moved so fast, and then she felt his lips at her throat, cool against her flushed skin. Instead of the burning fire she had prepared herself for, she felt suddenly lightheaded. Her head spun and she flashed hot to cold to blank. Her heart stuttered under the weight of an unnamed, intense compression, so strong it overwhelmed her. It was almost like she was surrounded, enveloped by him.

"Edward!"

She sounded shrill and panicked. But there was no pain. She didn't feel pain. Just a suffocating sense of feeling what she assumed Edward must be feeling. She tried her best to hang on, to focus on the warm; topaz eyes that she imagined just for a moment were now green. Her eyes closed and she felt her arm slip from around his shoulder. She fell, hard and fast into jade.

* * *

Something was beeping nearby. It was high-pitched, rhythmic beep: slow, controlled and inescapable. She felt feeling work its way through her limbs. Her fingers twitched, making fists around the crisp sheets she was covered with. She groaned.

"Bella?"

Alice was there then. Where was she? Couldn't she hear the beeping? It was driving her mad. Every beep was exactly the same, clear and sharp with even spaces.

"Bella."

Her first few attempts at forming words were miserable failures. All she succeeded in doing was letting loose a hiss. All of her joints had stiffened into boards. She spent a second or two determining how to force herself to swallow.

"Al – Alice."

"That's it Bella, come on," the bell-like voice was happier now. Bella was struck then with the idea that not everything had gone as planned. Where was the inhuman strength? She could barely flutter her eyes open and peer through the lashes. "Say something. Can you talk?"

"Stop the damn beeping."

And Alice was laughing. The carefree sound of wind chimes did wonders on relaxing her posture. She was very excited when she managed to quiet her giggles. There was a light to her face that hadn't been there before.

"What happened? I don't think I've changed," Bella asked. Her voice was regaining its confidence and strength. She shifted her bedridden form to make it easier to face her sister.

Alice hesitated, "Well…no, things didn't go quite as we planned them. But I do think that it was a good thing, though. I'm going to enjoy tormenting him on this particular turn of events."

"Edward?"

She nodded.

"Where is he?"

Alice opened her mouth to answer just as the door to the hospital recovery room creaked open. She half-expected Edward to poke his head around the door and she was somewhat disappointed to see that it was only Carlisle.

"Bella you're awake," he sighed in relief. A fifty-pound weight was removed from his shoulders. "We were worried about you."

"Where is Edward?"

Carlisle looked at Alice for a moment before taking a seat on the side opposite her. She winced as the chair scraped across the hospital floor. He sighed, "I'm not sure what happened, Bella, and I won't lie and tell you that I do. When Edward bit you nothing happened like we had expected. You weren't in any pain and the venom wasn't spreading at all. It was Edward."

"What do you mean?" she demanded. Her voice rose up into higher pitches and deeper levels of trepidation. "Where is he? I need to see him; I need to see if he's alright!"

Carlisle had a hand on her shoulder as she struggled to rise into an upright position.

"He's fine. I have him in the room next door," he assured. "When he bit you, the effect was reverse. Your blood was almost a poison to him. He was the one who was in discomfort. I don't think it ever reached the level we were anticipating but it was obvious he wasn't enjoying the experience."

"What the hell are you trying to tell me? What happened to my husband?"

Carlisle paused. "In a word: humanity."

Bella ceased all movement. She sought out Alice for verification.

"He's human, Bella," she whispered.

She was silent for a moment. So many thoughts raced through her mind and for a split second she allowed the thought to come to her that she was sitting amidst the most vivid hallucination she had ever known to be. Even her experience with the overprotective-hallucinatory-Edward hadn't reached this standard. It was so real but so unlikely. Edward could never be human. It could never happen.

But Alice's eyes held no trace of dishonesty. Carlisle had never lied to her. Why would now be any different?

"I want to see him," she established. "I don't care how it happens but I need to see Edward with my own two eyes. Please, don't argue. I don't think I could handle it if I can't."

Carlisle was silent a moment as he deliberated. After a long moment he nodded his head.

"Only for a moment, though," he cautioned. "I mean it. This is uncharted territory. I don't want you on your feet for very long. Alice, will you help her?"

Bella barely had time to blink before the iced marble hands of Alice Cullen hoisted her to her feet. Her knees trembled and she clung to her friend for support. Carlisle rolled the IV stand around the bed and placed it within Bella's grip.

Using Alice and the rolling metal rod for support, she somehow managed to stagger across the hospital tile to where Carlisle held the door open for them.

"Edward's in that room right there," he supplied and motioned to the adjacent door to their immediate left. "I'll be back in a few minutes after I see about your discharge papers. With all that's happened, I don't think you should be hospital-bound any longer than you need to be. Alice, don't let her talk you into leaving that room."

She laughed, "Don't worry about that."

Each step was trickery in fine form and it was a slow process to move from one door to another.

"I'm really sorry you got stuck with this job, Alice. I know you'd much rather be doing something else," Bella sighed.

"That's ridiculous. If I wasn't helping you right now I'd either be sitting at your bedside or at his."

"You wouldn't rather be doing something with Jasper?"

"Jasper went hunting," Alice informed her, "He doesn't like leaving when something is happening, but he had no desire to hurt you or now Edward by not hunting when he needed to."

"Thoughtful," she winced at the bitter sarcasm that dripped off of her words.

"It's not the preferred situation but all of us are thrilled to see Edward have a second chance."

They were at his door now. She heard the beeping of the heart monitor within. It wasn't the consistent thrum of a steady pulse; Edward's heart was skittish and it leapt around, speeding up and then slowing again. Then it would go a stretch without beeping at all.

"It's like his body is at war with itself," Alice explained, "but the outlook is good. I predict we'll finally be able to make good use of the household items we've collected as props."

Bella drew in a deep, shaky breath in a laughable attempt to bring her one heart – which she had the notion mirrored his at that particular moment – under her control once again. Alice pushed the door wide; it hit the wall and rebounded a few inches so that it created the perfect frame around him.

"Oh my…"

She took a step into the room, her mouth hanging loose on invisible hinges. She was acutely aware of Alice's eyes on her, gauging her reaction.

He looked breakable on the hospital bed with so many tubes and machines looming above him. She approached his bedside alone. How could this have happened to Edward? It was impossible for him to be reduced to this. For a brief moment, she staggered under the weight of guilt. He had only bitten her because she asked him to. This was her fault. Tears pricked her eyes.

With overstated slowness, she lifted the fingers of her right hand to his face. His skin was cool beneath her fingertips but she could feel the softness and the underlying promise of warmth. His lashes fluttered when she traced eyelids that had once been pale lavender. Her fingers were a feather caress atop his eyes, cheekbones, lips.

A tear slipped down her face as she pressed two fingers against the living pulse just beneath his jaw.

"What happened to you?" she murmured softly though she expected no reply.

A hand came down on her shoulder. "Bella? Are you alright?"

"It's not fair," she muttered. Her words were calm, too calm. There was a storm brewing beneath the surface. "Just when I think the guessing is over. I didn't do anything to deserve this. _He_ didn't do anything to deserve this. Forever or not, I don't care, but I need answers."

"Edward is going to be fine. Carlisle says it; Jasper can feel him getting stronger. I've seen it."

"You can't know that for sure. What Carlisle says, your visions…they're still just guesses."

"This isn't the Bella I know and love. She's strong. Where's that Bella?"

She spun on her heels, exploding, "That Bella is losing her mind! I have no idea what I'm doing anymore! He _could_ be one hundred percent okay and we _could _live for the next seventy years as humans but I need to know for sure. I need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt what the future holds. Damn it!"

Alice wasn't looking at her. Her sparkled gaze was focused on something over her shoulder. There was an expression of mild astonishment on her face and in the space of the next second Bella's heart constricted before bursting out of her in the form of the most radiant smile ever to light her face.

"I'm one hundred percent positive, my love," he mumbled. His voice was thick with sleep and yet she was certain that it gleamed with satisfaction and triumph.

* * *

**So did you like it? Please review! **

**Here is the quote from the next chapter "**_**Masen**_**"**

"**Jell-O isn't the enemy."**


	9. Masen

**Hey! This story is moving right along. We're updating probably three chapters a day so we have it all finished before the arrival of everyone's most anticipated novel of the summer. So this chapter picks up about a few days after Altered and it involves Jell-O. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own anything, much as we'd like to. All glory goes to the brilliant mind of Stephenie Meyer.**

_**Masen**_

"Bella, be reasonable. Human food is dirt and to me it will always be dirt," he argued. He was propped up against three pillows in the bed. His head rested against the headboard, eyes closed and arms crossed.

She sat cross-legged in the space next to him, balancing a tray of food in her lap. The never-before-used dishes from Esme's kitchen now found themselves full the brim with an assortment of food. She held a polished silver spoon to his lips; the lime Jell-O swayed back and forth as if it were still deliberating on whether or not to throw itself from the utensil.

"Just eat it, Edward," she ordered. "Like it or not, you're human now and humans have to heat food in order to stay alive."

He shook his head. "But I don't want to."

The door opened to let the wind-chime laugh in. "Am I actually hearing this?" she teased. "Edward Cullen is pouting."

"It won't kill you," Bella grinned. "And open your eyes. I love your eyes."

He squeezed them tighter in response.

"Do I have to start twirling the spoon through the air like it's a plane? Next time I'll add sound effects," she asked.

Alice crossed the room. "This I have to see."

"Alright," Bella set the tray down and made to climb off the bed. "I'll go tell Carlisle to bring the feeding tube back."

"No!" He was sitting up so fast the other two occupants wondered for a brief moment if his newly returned humanity was just an elaborate joke.

"Will you eat it now?"

He didn't answer but grabbed the plate of sliced berries and threw them in his mouth as fast as his hands would get them there.

Alice laughed again and glided across the room, grace in every movement. Bella turned her attention back to him, settling down again on the bed. He had slowed down in his consumption of the berries, putting them to the side in favor of the Mexican carry-out she'd sent Emmett for earlier that day.

"This is an enchilada, right?" he asked between mouthfuls. "With rice."

"Correct," she nodded, scooping up some of the rice for herself with a spare fork she'd brought along. "I got a little bit of everything, Jell-O, fruits and veggies, Mexican, spaghetti and meatballs, teriyaki chicken, chicken noodle soup, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

He nodded and reached for the glass of cherry Kool-aid. The enchilada had disappeared.

"Like Mexican, huh?"

"I suppose," he shrugged. He prodded a cube of Jello with leery eyes. "However, I still don't know how I feel about eating something that wiggles."

"Jello isn't the enemy."

He tossed the spoon he was holding into the spaghetti and slumped back, suddenly guarded. "Everything is."

She crawled up to lay next to him. "What do you mean by that?"

"I had everything figured out," he told her. "Everything. In any future I had worked out for us, you becoming one of us, you staying human, I had it all figured out. If you'd become one of us, we would have had forever. If you'd stayed human, then when you…well, I would have followed quickly after. But I never even considered this. After a hundred years, even dreams go away."

She looked at him, confused. Was this his way of saying that he didn't like the turn his life had taken? It was hard to believe, even difficult to come to terms with, but it was the best scenario she could have thought of. She wouldn't have to leave anyone now, not her parents, her friends, Jacob…and she still had him. She would always have him. She swallowed. "Edward, are you – are you angry…with me?"

He jerked around to face her, eyes wide. "No! Of course not." He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. She felt his lips on her forehead. "I love you and this is the best thing you've ever given me. I only meant that I had no idea where we'll go from here. This complicates things. I don't know how to be human."

She smiled and looked up at him. "It's not as bad as you think."

He was silent a moment, an almost sheepish look coming over his face. "Do you remember all of your human minutes?"

She nodded. "When I needed to go take a shower, or brush my hair, or brush my teeth, or do something like that. You get partake of those too now, don't you?"

"It's not something I ever thought I'd have to deal with."

"You catch on," she assured him. "Some things just come to you, like eating human food. It comes naturally, once you get over your pigheaded opinions that it's all dirt."

"You try living off of liquid for a century, then being forced to eat solid food again and see how you like it," he teased, drawing her even closer. She smiled into the thin fabric of his shirt. With both of them human, there was no reason they couldn't lay in each others arms. She wasn't cold, pressed up against iced marble and he wasn't battling with the ever-present instinct that told him to end her life.

"This must be easier for you, though," she whispered. "We're the same now. All of the things you loved about me, you're the same. You can blush, your heart beats, your reflexes are no better than mine now. And it's wonderful."

He pulled her up onto his chest, without knocking any of the food off the tray. "It _is _wonderful. But it is incredibly annoying that now I don't know what _anyone_ is thinking. It was nice to know when I was being lied to, when Alice was hiding something, as she loves to do."

"Now you're just like everybody else."

"It sounds so degrading," he laughed. She pushed up to look down into his eyes. They were far more revealing. He _was_ happy about this new change. It opened up a lot of doors, ones he'd thought locked a long time ago. He kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you. And I do thank you for giving me this opportunity."

She drew from the warm circle of his arms to lay her ear over the steady pounding of his heart. No matter how many hours she spent where she was, hand on his chest, she didn't think she'd ever get to a point where she wouldn't feel so at peace with the world. The droning had a drowsy effect on her mind, different but no less meaningful than the lullaby he'd written for her.

"Where _will_ we go from here?" she sighed. The future seemed so far from them. "So much has changed. What do we do?"

He rolled onto his side, moving her head to rest on his shoulder. He touched his forehead to hers, hand on her hip.

"We live our lives, as they should be lived," he told her. "We live everyday grateful for what we've been given. And when it ends, as it should, we count ourselves lucky to have been given this chance."

She smiled. "Still so perfect. Always knowing what to say and when to say it."

He shrugged, allowing her praise. "This is the way it should be, Bella."

She burrowed further into his arms and fitted her face into the curve of his neck. This was the dream she had never allowed herself to dwell upon. The knowledge that she would never know what it felt like to be warm in his arms, listening to his heart, looking forward to whatever a human life with him could offer – it hurt her too much. Yet here she was: nestled into the secure arms of someone who loved her.

She jolted, an unwanted thought of less enjoyable circumstances crossing her mind. "Edward?"

"Hmm?" He popped open one of the green eyes he'd closed.

"What will we – never mind," she shook her head. Things were too perfect for her to bring _that_ topic up.

He shifted, pulling her closer, if that was even possible. Eyes were now wide with curiosity. "What? You can tell me."

She shook her head once. "It's nothing."

"Tell me."

She ducked her head so she knew he couldn't see her face. "What will we do about the Volturi?"

He was silent, tensed with concentration, and then he relaxed. His voice was light, "Bella, you really shouldn't worry about things like that."

She propped herself up a little. "But they were very clear. And I'm not gonna be changed now."

He was already shaking his head, "Aro will be too completely engrossed with what's happened to me to worry about you. You don't need to worry."

"You're sure?"

He ran a hand through his bronze hair and then his lips landed on hers. He still had the same effect on her. She lost all train of coherent thought and brought a hand up to his face. "Don't worry about that right now," he whispered.

"I'm not, now kiss me," she rolled her eyes. The Volturi would wait another day. She could worry about them later.

He slipped from around her, leaving her skin cool from his absence. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "You'll have to catch me to get that!"

He pushed off the bed in what was meant to be a leap away from her. Instead, he stumbled and pitched forward. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You actually have to _try_ to use your strength now, dear. Don't forget that things aren't quite as effortless as they've been in the past."

He grimaced over his shoulder, "How could I forget? I can't even stand up anymore."

She kissed his cheek, "You'll get the hang of it."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

He stood, paying more attention to what he was doing. She slid her arms down his back and circled them again around his waist, resting her forehead between his shoulder blades. He chuckled.

"What?"

"It's such a strange sensation to have your stomach demand more food," he shook his head, grabbing her hand. "I think I want another of those enchiladas."

She let him drag her out of the bedroom and down the hall. She couldn't bring herself to care about what they must have looked like, him shuffling down past the doors with her socked feet sliding just behind his, arms laced about his waist. He stopped when he reached the stairs and glanced at the top of her head. There was an embarrassed smile on his face. "Hey, love?"

She didn't move, "What is it?"

"Would you mind walking ahead of me? My legs are kind of stiff." She laughed and squeezed about his waist before she slipped around him, keeping her grip on his hand, and walked down two stairs ahead of him. Alice appeared at the bottom step, smiling up at them.

"Need some help?" she asked.

A faint tint of pink touched his cheeks as he took the first step slowly. "No," he snapped.

Bella looked down at her and said, "Let him do it by himself."

Alice kept smiling. "You're blushing Edward."

Bella rolled her eyes, "Was there something you wanted, Alice?"

"Actually there was," she sat down at the bottom of the stairs. "I was just wondering if you'd forgotten what today was. Or if you knew how incredibly rude it was for you to not attend, seeing as there's no reason for your absence. You're not pale-skinned or bloodthirsty."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"A joining of a certain pack leader and his love for life," she hinted. Bella's eyes widened and then she closed them, sighing.

"Today's Sam and Emily's wedding, isn't it?"

"That's right."

Edward removed his hand from hers and came down the last five steps on his own, with cautious ease. She led the way into the kitchen, Alice trailing a little ways behind, humming. He sat down, trying not to show how much the stairs had exhausted him. She rummaged through the fridge until she found the Styrofoam take-out box with the rest of the Mexican. She popped it in the microwave and turned back to face them.

"It's over by now," she said. "I'll call Seth. Maybe we can drive down there later on and pay our respects. Apologize for missing it."

Alice handed held out her cell phone. "I assumed."

She took it and flipped it open, not even thinking about the numbers she was dialing. Seth had become a closer friend to her, and to Edward for that matter, than she'd ever thought he would be. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pull himself out of his chair to go get the food when the microwave went off.

Seth answered on the third ring. She wasted no time with formalities and small talk. The wolves no doubt had known about her plans for changing. "Hey, Seth. It's Bella. Can I talk to you?"

**Hope you liked it. Next chapter, the wolves make their first appearance. Didn't realize it had taken so long. **

**Quote from "Mended":**

**_"Maybe you should take up Jazzercise."_**

* * *


	10. Mended

**Sorry this is getting put up so late in the day. You all can expect two chapters after this one up before midnight tonight. They've been written for quite some time. This chapter takes place approximately two months after Masen. I know we've been skipping through time a lot; we're sorry but there's no other way if we want to have this done before Breaking Dawn. We'll try to pop up with some oneshots later to fill in the gaps. As always, enjoy and review!**

**Disclaimer: These amazing characters are the belongings of the amazing woman Stephenie Meyer. We're just borrowing them for a little while.**

_**Mended**_

She tried to keep her eyes and mind focused on the list she'd made, rather than the drying atmosphere around the fallen leaves in the late November air. Thanksgiving was just around the corner and preparing for it was therapeutic, calming. But she couldn't ignore the promise she'd made to Seth for much longer. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Edward for a moment, tense and straight-backed. He was still in the mindset he'd been in for a hundred years, that being on Quileute territory was a recipe for disaster.

"What do you want me to make for dessert?" she asked, in an effort to distract him. "Charlie said he didn't want a pecan pie. What do you want?"

He was silent a moment, eyes on the road like they'd practiced. The mailbox was still in disarray from that first time he'd driven. Her poor truck was in even worse shape than that.

"Maybe you could make that pumpkin pie again," he suggested. "That was good."

She laughed. "It did disappear rather quickly. I was lucky I took the first piece. There may not have been any left for me if I hadn't."

He smiled, though his eyes were still darting back and forth. They had passed the boundary line a mile or so back. "It wasn't _all_ me, you know. Ben had his share. Did I ever thank you for dragging me along to Angela's birthday?"

"No," she shook her head, taking a pen out of her purse and scrawling pumpkin pie out to the side, in large capital letters. She couldn't remember what all of the ingredients were; she'd have to look the recipe up when they got home. Her phone rang; he jolted in his seat.

She held her phone up. "Edward, it's Alice. They don't even know we're coming. I told Seth it'd be awhile. They've most likely forgotten."

He nodded. She flipped her phone open and listened to Alice, who was already talking. "One 8 oz. package of cream cheese, softened; 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed; 1 cup sugar; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten; 1 cup half-and-half – "

"Can you please just wait until we go to the store?" she asked. "I'm not focused enough to catch all that. Just meet us later, okay?"

"How about I send Esme? She's really into this whole Thanksgiving thing."

"But you'll make it fun."

"Bella, I have to go. Jasper's calling." She didn't wait for a response but hung up.

She smiled as she put the phone up. "I'm sure Jasper was calling for you Alice. Grocery shopping is a little bit different from _shopping_ shopping."

She looked back at Edward. His eyes darted towards her and he stammered, "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "We're not doing anything wrong. You're human now. We're not breaking any treaty."

He nodded once, stiffly. "If you say so. You know them better than I do."

She snorted. "Said the one who spent all that time deciphering the pack mind, comparing it to a soap opera."

He shot a teasing glare in her direction, the creases in his face gone. "I meant that you could gauge their reactions better than I can. I only knew what they were thinking right then. How can I possibly predict what their response to my presence will be?"

"Sam won't be mad," she assured him. "And Seth likes you. We're just coming down here to see how everyone's been doing and to congratulate Sam and Emily."

"I guess you're right," he sighed. "Where do I turn?"

"Up there, go left," she pointed. She gathered put all of the sheets of paper away and straightened in her seat. It had been a long time since she'd been here. She wasn't nervous about how they'd react, she wasn't. But she'd made it clear that she had chosen the Cullens over them and now, here she was.

Sam was on the front porch, looking down at the ground with a smile on his face. Edward parked the Volvo in front and took a deep breath. She climbed out, slamming the door without realizing it and stepped around the car into the grass. She motioned for him to get out of the car too. Sam's head had snapped up, and when she approached the door, two other heads popped into view. Seth and Embry had been out of sight, no doubt sprawled on the ground in some strange brother-by-pack rough-housing embrace.

Seth sprinted out to greet her. "Bella! You didn't tell me it was gonna take you so long to get down here to see us."

She smiled and motioned to Edward, who was trudging to her side. "He insisted that he was coming too and it took awhile before he was on his human feet again, and before I trusted him to drive more than around the block."

Sam and Embry joined them. "Seth told us something had happened, but he didn't really make much sense."

"I'll explain in a minute," Bella shook her head. "Where's Emily? We came down to congratulate you two and to apologize for getting around to it so late."

"She's fixing lunch," he said. "Come on in."

She looped one arm through Edward's and the other through Seth's. Sam led the way inside, with Embry walking backwards so he could talk to them. "So, Edward, right?"

He nodded, loosening up a little when they didn't jump right on him. Embry went on, "You're human now. That's interesting. How did that, uh, come about?"

The trio broke their chain so they could pass through the door. The aroma of fresh cookies met them in the face and there was a plate full of enough sandwiches to feed a small army. Bella wondered for a moment if there was enough. The woman came into view, smiling. Edward had either had forewarning from his soap opera comparison or he hid his surprise well. She smiled. He was far too courteous for his own good.

"Bella, it's good to see you," she came around to wrap her arms around her. "I didn't know when we'd see you again."

"Sorry it took so long for me to get down here," she apologized. "Some things came up and this is the first opportunity we've had."

"I'm just happy you made it at all," she motioned for her to sit and disappeared for a moment, coming back with another chair which she pulled Edward to. He sent his still-dazzling smile to go along with his thank you. Sam seated himself opposite them at the table.

"So, what did happen?" he asked. "You were gonna be a vampire and this happened."

"I was going to change, you know, I know it, Edward knows it," Bella nodded. "And it just so happened that I managed to screw it up, for the better though. This new development, it's good. That being said, I was hoping for some sort of truce. I didn't want to have to choose, you don't mind, do you?"

Seth slid into another chair, and grabbed two sandwiches. "Ah, just when I thought I was getting rid of the two of you. But I guess we could keep you around. Right, Sam."

"I can't speak for Edward, but I know that _she's_ fun to watch. She keeps things interesting," he laughed. Then he looked to Edward, "I'm sure you do, too."

Bella shook her head. "You sound like Emmett. _I hope you don't die; you're fun to have around._ Am I really that bad?"

"Sad to say it, love, but you are," Edward nodded his head. Emily brought the cookies and four bags of potato chips to the table. There was a pitcher of what looked like iced tea on the counter.

"If you are going to be around again, you'll have to do your share of the cooking," Emily sat down. "The pack is getting big; feeding the herd is getting costly."

"Of course I'll help."

Embry was leaning against the counter, a frown on his face. "Emily, you only got one chair. Where am I supposed to sit?"

She looked up at him, unrepentant. "He's a guest. You can get your own chair."

Seth stood up, "Actually, I was wondering if I could borrow Bella for a few minutes. There's something I've been meaning to tell her and now's as good a time as any."

He walked to the door and motioned for her to follow. She stood and looked to him. His green eyes caught hers and she saw in them that he was comfortable, that this wasn't anything like he'd expected. She knew what he meant. They didn't behave like a pack of werewolves, but more like a big group of boys who refused to grow up and act their age.

He was munching on his third sandwich when she took the seat next to him. She played dumb, although she knew what it was he was going to talk to her about. He took a bite out of his fourth.

"He's in Mexico," he announced between two large mouthfuls. "Has been for awhile."

"Mexico?" That was the last place she had thought he'd go. It was so far away. "What's he doing there?"

He looked like someone who'd just got their hand caught in a cookie jar and gulped down his current bite before he choked out, "Stuff," he took a sip from the cup he'd brought along and nodded, confident in his explanation. "Yeah, stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Stuff," he explained. "You know, just…stuff."

"Does any of that _stuff_ have to do with me?"

He shook his head, putting his plate on the ground. "No, not anymore. I let him know that you, you know, had gotten married and all and that something happened so that you weren't gonna be changed. He seems to have taken it in stride. He should be coming back soon. Maybe not until after the weather turns warm again. Mexico's a little bit warmer than this and he said he wanted a smooth transition."

She narrowed her eyes, seeing through his story. "What does the weather matter to you? You're pretty toasty warm, aren't you?"

The cookie-jar look was back. "It's just what he said. I don't always understand Jake, surely you know that."

She nodded. "Seth?"

"Hmm?"

"Please don't lie to my face," she whispered. "You don't have to tell me but don't make an excuse. Just say that you can't say."

"I promise he'll be back soon and that I'll let you know anything that I can when I can tell you, okay?"

She opened her mouth to ask why Jacob had chosen to go so far away when the door opened and Embry came out, laughing. Sam and Edward were next, each with smiles on their faces.

"What's so funny?" Bella asked.

Embry motioned to Edward, "He hasn't said anything to you, but he's concerned that with all the food you've been encouraging him to eat that eventually he'll double in weight."

Emily joined them as well, handing her a glass of tea. "I told him not to worry about it. He'll get used to being human."

"That's what I tell him. But if you really feel that way, then we could forego dessert altogether on Thanksgiving."

He was quick to shake his head. "No, that's not necessary, Bella, really."

Seth looked at him for a long moment. "Maybe you should take up Jazzercise."

Bella choked on her sip of tea. Sam and Embry were almost doubled over laughing. The effort that Emily put into not smiling was formidable. Edward could only glare.

Once her airway was clear again, she slipped her arm through Edward's and pulled him away. "I think it's time to go."

Emily called out to her as they opened the doors to the Volvo, "I was telling Edward, both of you are welcome to come back down tomorrow. It's Quil's birthday!"

"We'll be here," she called back. "Thanks Emily!"

Edward slammed his door shut and turned the key in the ignition. Before he did anything else, he looked to her, eyes wide. "Don't tell Alice."

She laughed and shook her head. "I won't."

* * *

**It wasn't the best we've put up, but you all understand. Hope you liked it anyway. Next chapter will be up in a few hours. For the record, the recipe that was included at the beginning of the chapter is from a real recipe for any of you who like pumpkin pie. I got it off the Food Network website. **

**Quote from Breathing:**

**_"I know what a baby is and how you end up with one."_**

**Try to figure that out...**

* * *


	11. Breathing

**Hello for the second time today. We've moved forward through time again, from the end of November to the end of January. Sorry! The next two chapters are consecutive, don't worry. Not sure about after that. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: All this belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

* * *

_**Breathing**_

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Arm moves under head. Breathe in deeply. Breathe out.

Bella allowed a soft smile to come upon her face. She could watch Edward sleep forever. Since his transformation, she had come to find out that he was a quirky sleeper. She stood from her seat by the glass wall and tiptoed to his side of the bed.

In the almost six months they'd been married, she had become used to his particular manner of sleep. He slept on his side with one arm tucked under his head and the other draped over her waist, or flung out if she were absent. The expression on his face melted her heart. Even as a human, his features were more beautiful than any she had encountered before. His eyes had become a pure, sparkling emerald that she drowned in several times a day.

"Bella?"

She hadn't expected him to wake. He rolled onto his back and gazed up at her with a smile on his breathtaking face and disoriented confusion in those eyes. He opened his arms to her; she accepted his invitation and allowed him to wrap her in his arms.

"What were you doing?"

"Watching you. I think I'm starting to understand why you loved to watch me sleep."

He chuckled. "But I don't talk, do I?"

"No, but its still enjoyable. I like watching you breathe. When you pretended to be asleep before, you were always too perfect to be believable."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and pulled her close. She snuggled closer, soaking in the warmth of his skin. There was a time not too long ago when that would have left her chilled but no longer.

"And your face. You always have the cutest look on your face."

"Go to sleep, love."

"But – "

"I'm tired," he was all but whining in her ear. He still had the ability to dazzle her and she had begun to suspect that it was more of an Edward thing than a vampire trait. She remained silent for his sake and bit back her comments on how much he resembled an innocent child when sleeping.

Some time later, she glanced up at her husband and found that he had drifted off once more. With all the stealth she could muster, she slipped out of his embrace and eased out of the bed. She didn't bother to search out Alice on her trek to the kitchen. Her new sister always seemed to know when she was needed.

Sure enough, Alice had hoisted her petite frame up onto the counter by the time Bella entered the kitchen. There was a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream dipped out for her and placed, with spoon and mug of hot chocolate, on the table.

"I just had a feeling," she shrugged. She leapt from the counter and joined Bella at the table.

"I don't usually indulge in midnight snacks. I've been doing a lot of strange stuff here lately."

"I don't think its typically customary to sip hot cocoa with your ice cream, either, is it?"

"Not usually, no."

"And I don't suppose it's common for people top their lasagna with pickle slices?"

"Not at all."

"So basically you're a freak and you're teaching Edward to be a freak."

"I guess I am."

Bella stopped with a spoon of the ice cream halfway between the chilled bowl and her opened mouth. Alice's smile was strained, her expression was too perfectly angelic. She couldn't look her straight in the eyes. She let the spoon fall back into the bowl.

"Alice are you hiding something?" Her voice was incredulous.

She responded too quickly. "Of course not."

"Yes, you are. Now, what aren't you telling me?"

She glanced down at her hands. "I had a vision a few nights ago. I haven't told anyone because I don't know what it'll mean for us. I wasn't expecting it."

Bella's mind wandered. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened over the past few days. There hadn't been any armies of newborns, no insane and vengeful women, no threats from an Italian royal family. In all actuality, it was the first uneventful week they'd had in a long time. She pushed the bowl away from her. "What are you saying?"

Alice's voice was small. "Do you want me to be blunt and honest with you, Bella?"

This was starting to get on her nerves. Alice had never been this unwilling to reveal the contents of her visions before. "Yes, spit it out."

There was a long pause, a careful deliberation. The obvious hesitation made her wonder if it was some horrible thing, like Edward's situation had caused him to contract a terminal type of vampiric cancer. It was plausible.

"You're pregnant."

Neither one said anything for a long moment. It took awhile for Bella to grasp at what the words meant and to decipher the fearful expression on Alice's face.

"C-Come again?" she squeaked out. It was a cross between "that's it" and "liar". Her voice was far too composed to be taken as an accurate reaction. Still, Alice drew courage from the lack of explosion and jumped to repeat, "You're having a baby."

Bella laughed. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

She was more forceful. "No. I'm not. I can't be. There's no way."

She stood from her seat, the chair scraped across the floor, and took a step back. Her mind hurled thoughts around, tossing them about like ping-pong balls, as she worked to find a way to disprove the vision. The only thing her mind provided her with was a mental acknowledgement of her husband's chivalrous seduction three night's prior, following Chinese takeout over a game of Candyland. She sank back into the chair, face matching Alice's in color. "Holy crap…"

Alice shrugged her shoulders, exuberant smile lighting her face. "Congratulations, sister dear. You're going to be a mommy."

She slumped forward and hit her head against the table, in sync with her repeated chants of "crap, crap, crap". Alice picked up the bowl and stood.

"Want more ice cream? Yours is melted."

"Alice. Just bring the whole carton."

"Right."

Emmett came into the kitchen then, unsurprised at his newest sister's presence there. He did raise a brow at the carton of brand new chocolate ice cream and large spoon. "Going on a diet, I see."

"No," she snapped, jabbing the spoon into the carton. "I'm contemplating ways to murder a doctor without getting caught."

He turned defensive, in a mocking way, "Carlisle's never done anything to you."

"Not him. The other doctor. The doctor that screwed up and let his happen to me."

He opened his mouth to question what she was talking about but Alice whipped her head from side to side in an attempt to stop her brother before it was too late. Needless to say, this particular Cullen had never been known for his genius.

"Bella, you're not talking sense. You're starting to sound like Edward."

Tears stung her eyes, realizing that there was another person she had to be concerned with. She cried, "Edward."

He laughed. "You sick of him already?"

It all happened in a single moment. Alice turned to stare at his blatant stupidity; Bella hurled her spoon at him – with surprising amount of force – which he caught and then dropped at her hysterical shrieking of, "Alice! I don't want to have a baby!"

Emmett blinked. "Baby?"

Alice frowned. "I see the hormones have already gone into overdrive."

"Baby?"

"We'll have to figure out a way to calm her down."

"Baby!"

Alice spun on him, glaring, but dead calm. "It is a mini-person, an infant. Conceived when two people – "

"Yeah! I know what a baby is and how you end up with one but, seriously, Edward and Bella – baby. Come on!"

Rosalie flashed in next to her husband. Her eyes were furious topaz. "What is going on down here?"

She was all but wailing now. Her sobs were deep and heaving, making it hard to breathe. She slammed her fists down again. Her life was too crazy to bring a child into it. There was no way she was going to maintain her sanity. She'd join the lunatics before she was twenty-five.

* * *

She was calm when the chirping outside the window wall pulled her out of dreams. Sometime after the collapse of her mental stability, Jasper's power and Carlisle's reasoning had brought her down into an undisturbed slumber. This morning, she resolved to take a calm approach to the news and proceed out of the bedroom with as much dignity as any one person could have after needing an entire family of vampires to put her back to bed.

She was led into the dining room by a very somber Rosalie and sat before a steaming plate of breakfast at the head of the table. Both Carlisle and Edward were missing. She took a moment to wonder how many people knew the truth and how many thought she'd finally cracked from the constant stress.

She poked a bite of eggs into her mouth, chewed and swallowed before speaking. "I am very sorry about last night."

Rosalie looked at her with a very puzzled expression on her face. "What exactly happened last night?"

Jasper nodded his head, "You had stopped making sense by the time we got there. You were just a big jumble of uncontrollable emotions."

She looked to Alice, "I told Carlisle so he could get Edward out of the house. You'll need to tell him in private. And I have kept Emmett alone in my closet all night so he wouldn't be tempted to tell anyone."

Another quick bite of food gave the excuse she needed to ponder the next course of action. Truthfully, she had overreacted the night before, venting all of the stress and ignored emotion that had been building up within her since the threat of the newborn army. She hadn't found a way to let it out in a healthy manner and so it boiled over. She jabbed her fork into the waffle and proclaimed, "I'm pregnant."

Emmett heaved a great sigh, leaning back in his chair. "It feels good to get that off my chest."

Bella looked at him. "Emmett, don't speak."

There were various expressions of shock and surprise on their faces. Without another word to anyone, she stood and left the room, plate of breakfast in hand.

* * *

**There was a slight moment of out-of-characterness but we don't you just love Bella's temporary breakdown. Look for Understanding tonight.**

**Quote from Understanding:**

**"_I love you, too, Uncle Jasper."_**


	12. Understanding

**This is our last update for the day. It features a character that we've overlooked a little, I think and hopefully we keep him as close to the real version as possible, instead of for humor as we do with Emmett (we do love Emmett, though - his character shines through later in the story and in potential sequels). Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight, its characters and plotlines, belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

* * *

_**Understanding**_

She wasn't quite sure who would be the first one to gather the courage to come up to talk with her. It would happen, though, she was sure, so she resolved to wait, to enjoy her meal while it was warm and tasty in front of her. They would come to her when it was right by them. For the time being, she was patient, content to have time to think for herself, away from outside influence.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be a mother, quite the opposite, having a child was the only human experience that she knew she'd ever regret for giving up. She reached over to place the almost-empty plate on Edward's half of the bed.

There was more to it, though, than the simple fact of mom, dad, and the little person they would raise together. There were other facts to consider. She had nine months ahead of her. Anything could happen in nine months and with the luck she possessed, anything was everything.

She drew into herself, arms criss-crossing over her flat stomach. Nothing she did could have stopped the bitter tears she shed over the unfairness of life. There was a part of her still torn, a part of her that always would be. Then there was Edward, struggling so hard to adjust to life as a human, to cope with everything he'd never had to deal with before. She wondered if this baby would finally be too much, if he would run, screaming, from her, as he had so many times wondered before.

Rational thinking left her; the certainty in her mind, the part that told her she knew better than to think he'd leave her again, was pushed aside by an unfounded, breathtaking fear. The kind of fear that abandoned you in a hazy darkness, unable to breathe or move or think. Her heart could barely wrap itself around the notion, and for the most part didn't; the pain was too great.

Edward had his limits. And the thought that she had finally pushed him past them was paralyzing.

A faint tap drew her eyes to the door. She knew at once who it was, who the first person to confront her would be.

"Come in, Jasper," she whispered in a thick, broken voice. She knew he'd heard. The door opened enough to allow him entry; he closed it behind him.

For the span of several heartbeats, he watched her. He gave no unnecessary movements, just watched her hiccup through unreadable caramel eyes. He saw through her in a way no one else did. A faint trace of a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," he chuckled once and crossed the room to her in three slow, paced steps. She sniffled. "How many times will we have to tell you before you understand?"

He wasn't angry, but was almost sad in a way. He hesitated, as if deciphering some new component that didn't fit in with the others, and then bent to wrap his cold, steely arms around her in a short, cautious hug. It wasn't too far from the ones she'd received from Edward earlier on in his quest for self-control. When he pulled away, he stepped back from physical contact but surprised her again by sitting down beside her on the bed, close enough to still be comforting.

He continued in that same measured voice, "I've known Edward longer than you have. Your fears are unfounded."

She swallowed, too tired to glare. "Don't try to make me feel better, please. Can I be miserable just this once?"

His smile widened a small fraction. "Nope, sorry. And I'm not trying to make you feel better. I'm trying to make you understand."

She unwound her arms from herself and tucked one leg under the other. "Understand what?"

"That none of us, I repeat, none of us, are anything but thrilled about this child."

She waved a hand through the air, as if the meaningless gesture could somehow make him understand what was going through her head. "I don't get why you all aren't upset with me. You all were doing fine, and then I showed up, and it's been disaster after disaster. Yes, good has come out of it, but I don't see how you could be happy about this little human girl showing up, falling in love with your brother, and then having the baby that _all_ of you wanted."

He sighed, understanding but disagreeing. "You still don't understand. This has nothing to do with what _we_ wanted. We all wanted to have the chance to live out the human life that we took for granted. That won't happen. We accept that. But, think of it this way. Now that we've accepted that we'll never be human, we look at you and Edward. He was given a miracle. The second chance we all longed for. And who deserved it more than him?

"Edward was here from the beginning of our family. When Carlisle decided not to be alone, Edward was there from then on. And look at what happened. From that moment, he was alone. Carlisle had Esme. Rosalie found Emmett. Alice and I found our way here, together. He's been alone for so long, contributing so much without any of the companionship he deserved in return. When he met you, yes, we were skeptical. Yes, it was difficult. But he deserved it and we tried for him."

She opened her mouth when he paused but he raised his hand. "Please, let me finish."

With a sigh and small smile, she settled back down, listening.

"And somewhere along the way, you changed us. All of us. Edward may have been the most changed, but we all came to love you. We didn't have a choice. You _made_ us love you.

"I guess, being honest, when we found out that you and Edward were going to have a child, we felt that tiny pang of jealousy where our hearts should be beating. We had that brief moment of envy and bitterness at how completely unfair it was that you got the things we wanted. But then we stopped to think, then _I _stopped to think about the good that would come out of this. The baby may not be mine but that didn't mean that I couldn't love it. If an uncle is the only thing I can be to a child, that's fine. He or she is still a member of my family and makes them my blood in everything but blood."

Bella tried her best to stifle the laugh that came up from the finishing line of his speech. "You have a way with words, you know that?"

He grinned. She leaned forward, arms opening to him but she froze. Though he'd made progress, there was a part of him that needed to be considered in all close situations. She opted for the safest route. "May I?" she asked.

He laughed this time, clear and loud, meeting her halfway in a tighter, but still guarded embrace. She was very careful not to move. "I love you, you know, little sister."

"I love you, too, Uncle Jasper."

He pulled away after another moment. He stilled. Bella, too, froze in posture. This was what he'd been trying to avoid, another scene like the one at her eighteenth birthday. Her heart betrayed her and thumped wildly in her chest. He grinned again. "I can see why Edward was fascinated by you to begin with Bella, you have very interesting reactions."

"Did I do something? To make it hard for you?"

He shook his head. "I'm trying, I promise. My thinking is, if the baby has blood anywhere near yours, it'll make it twice as hard for you. Maybe if I get better at handling it now, we won't have a mess on our hands later."

"You sure you're okay?" She refused to move any more than what was required to speak.

"Oh, he's fine," Alice laughed from the doorway. She was twirling Bella's phone in her hands, a present from Edward – against her wishes, as always. "This is good for him. He needs to face reality."

She relaxed enough to face her sister. "What? That his new little sister is incredibly appetizing?"

"Something like that," Alice danced over to them. "Bella, Charlie just called. He says he has a letter for you. It must be from someone who doesn't know of your change of address. Anyway, he said he would've dropped it off, but he was running late for work and that he'd left it on the kitchen table for you."

Bella slid off the bed. "I'll go get it."

Rosalie passed the door, not pausing when she said, "Send someone with her. I'm quite anxious to meet the baby. I'd hate to miss that chance."

She rolled her eyes. "You have no faith at all in me, do you?"

Alice shook her head. "None whatsoever. Surprised?"

Jasper watched the exchange, still seated on the bed. "I'll take you, if you want," he offered. Bella raised a brow but Alice didn't look surprised. Actually, she seemed smug.

"Have a nice chat, you two," she sang and left the room, swaying her body from side to side in a dance only she probably knew.

Bella sighed, stepping around him to go into the huge, walk-in closet that she and Edward shared. She called out, "Is it really cold out there?"

He came closer so she could hear him, "I can't really say but it's the middle of January so I'm sure it is."

Alice poked her head in. "It'll be snowing by the time you get back. Dress warm."

"She pops up everywhere," Bella muttered under her breath. The sound of Jasper's laugh was one she hadn't gotten used to yet. "Jasper, you wouldn't happen to know where Carlisle took Edward, would you?"

She picked through a number of thicker shirts to change into and settled on a periwinkle blue one that Esme had given her for Christmas. A holiday celebration such as Christmas was acceptable for gift-giving, as everyone participated. Jasper disappeared from view when she slid the thick sweater from the hangar.

"I believe he took him down to the hospital under the guise of "checking up on his new human health"," he replied when she emerged from the closet, coat in hand, wrapping a white scarf around her neck. "He wasn't sure how long it would take for things to settle down here so he used an excuse that could cover a lengthy period of time."

Ever the southern gentleman, and perhaps striving to prove to himself that he didn't have to _be_ human to act it, he held the door open to the car while she climbed in. He was beside her in a flash, car started and heat blaring before she could tell him to turn it on high. It turned out that it _was_ cold, freezing cold. The clouds looming overhead were dull grey, thick with the promise of frozen moisture. She rubbed her hands together, wishing that she'd thought to bring gloves.

"It shouldn't be allowed to get this cold," she shivered.

"I guess not."

The warmth took its time to seep through the layers of clothing she'd donned but it did. He seemed at ease with the elements, in a thin shirt and flimsy jacket but it wasn't worth getting jealous over. There were much more important things she wanted to ask than what it was like to not have to worry about subzero temperatures.

"Jasper?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "_Did_ you ever want to have a baby?"

He frowned. "What you have to understand is that, when I was alive, when I was human, I considered myself young, unbreakable, like nothing could ever touch me. And in that mindset, settling down and having a family wasn't something that had interested me yet. Now, decades later, I could see myself having been very happy with a role as a father."

"So, I guess that's a yes."

He was silent a moment and then he shook his head. "I think it's a no."

"Why? What do you mean by that?"

"As a human, I didn't want to be bound to the responsibilities that fatherhood brought, at least not then. But now, now that I see it happening to someone in my family, to people that I care about…now that I know what Alice has seen of the future regarding the baby, it makes me want to be able to go back and shake the life out of that arrogant boy I was until he realized how stupid he's being and settles down with a wife. But, at the same time, I'm glad that I hadn't had a family. It would have been harder for me to accept what I'd become if I was leaving behind someone who depended on me."

She stared out the front window, in utter shock. It was a different perspective, hearing it from him. He spoke like someone who had given the topic more thought and time than he was letting on. The answer to the blank pieces clicked in her mind. "What does all this have to do with Alice?"

He looked surprised that she'd noticed. Charlie's house came into view and he pulled into the now empty driveway with practiced ease. They sat there for a moment, watching the slushy mixture of snow and sleet that was coming down from the sky, just as predicted. "Alice is to me what you are to Edward. Sort of. The same but different. I wish everyday that I could give her back what she lost, the childhood memories and everything else that I at least can think back on. She doesn't know what it's like to be a kid. To run around playing and screaming without a care in the world. That's what a baby would be for her: a chance to see what she lost. It would be like living her youth over through someone else. It's not so much that I want to be a father but more that I want _her_ to be a mother."

She didn't know what to say. Several times, she tried to say something, but she couldn't. She was too turbulent inside to appear collected on the outside. Where had this openness come from? It was all so confusing. He smiled, like he knew what she was thinking.

"Go get your letter, Bella."

As an afterthought, he got out to walk beside her to the front door. She snatched at the key, right where it always was, but her numbed fingers were fumbling too much for her to unlock it right. Before she realized what he was going to do, Jasper had grabbed it and unlocked the door, swinging it open in front of her. "Ladies first," he smiled, motioning for her to proceed.

Charlie had left most of the lights on, much to her chagrin. It didn't seem like the man was able to function as well without her. Jasper waited by the door for her to hurry through the house and turn off all the neglected lights. The envelope was thicker than she expected and more worn. Whoever the sender was, they had gone to a lot of trouble to get this to her. It appeared to have gone through unknown exposures before ending up in the Forks mailbox.

"You gonna read it?" he asked when she joined him at the door.

"Not right now," she shook her head. "It might be bad news and, you know, I don't think I'm in the right mindset for bad news at this very instant. I'll read it when we get home, curl up by the fireplace with some hot chocolate."

"Sounds like it'd be fun," he shrugged his shoulders. Her hands didn't fumble with the key this time. When she turned to face the front lawn, her heart dropped. Alice had been right, as usual. It was coming down, white and hard, already up high enough so that the blades of grass were nearly gone. She pulled her coat tighter about her and set off at a brisk pace to the car Jasper left running.

"Anything's better than this," she pointed out. "This is insane. Cold, cold, cold."

It was her own fault that she didn't see the patch of ice on the sidewalk. She was too busy shivering around, rubbing her hands together to keep from turning into icicles, to pay attention to what she was walking over. He caught her by the upper arm before she did any damage to the back of her skull, carrying her at arm's length over the icy patches and into the grass, which crunched under their feet.

"Rosalie was right to worry," he shook his head, backing out of the driveway without looking at all where he was going. "You'll be doomed to nine months bed rest if you do that with someone else around."

"You mean someone who doesn't overreact?"

"Yes," he nodded. "For the most part, I don't overreact. Alice overreacts."

"_Edward_ overreacts. I don't think I'm gonna tell him that I'm pregnant until he figures it out for himself. I'll wear really loose, baggy hoodies and eat my cravings when he's not around. I don't think he should know about the baby until it's in my arms," Bella reasoned.

"Do you really think that'll work? Through the summer?"

"No."

"When are you going to tell him?"

She took a deep breath. "Tomorrow. I think. Once it's all sunk in. It feels sort of surreal to me right now."

He nodded. "I guess that's understandable."

Alice was waiting for them on the front porch. Her topaz eyes glinted with the slightest bit of irritation. She stalked over to Bella as soon as she was out of the car. "I told you about the weather so that you wouldn't slip and fall. And you did it anyway."

"I didn't fall." Bella laughed. Jasper shook his head at the two of them and went inside. Without another word to Alice, Bella followed after. She found she couldn't stay mad at her for long, especially not when she'd gotten the fire to a roaring flame and set out a mug of hot chocolate with extra whipped cream, just the way she liked it.

"What was in the letter?" Rosalie asked, looking up from the magazine she was flipping through.

"I don't know." She passed the envelope to Alice to open and took a sip from the steaming mug. There was no outside indication to its sender and, from first glance, the stationary inside wasn't any indication either. Both of her sisters were in the room, trying to make it seem like they weren't interested in the mysterious correspondent.

Ignoring them, she pulled the piece of paper out and unfolded it. She flipped it over to look at the side with the writing, in bold inked letters. Her heart stop. The two women whipped their heads in her direction when the lack of the very important noise persisted for a moment. She couldn't even begin to digest the words written on the page. Not when those words were written Jacob's handwriting.

* * *

**We brought Jasper in and gave him a role, finally. Hope everyone loved it! And, just as a side note, all of the perhaps uncharacteristic obsession with children on Bella's part in the past was to bring her to this point.**

**Quote from the planned but unwritten and still untitled next chapter:**

**_"What kind of a name is Milagra anyway?!_**


	13. Told

**Here's our first chapter for today. We're finding ourselves rushed so there should be around four chapters up today. We're spoiling you. After this story is finished, we'll be lucky if we update anywhere near as often as we're doing now. As a side note, Megan, our beloved friend, is sick. Megan, we hope you feel better soon. So without further ado, here is the thirteenth chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Let's give a round of applause to Stephenie Meyer, the owner of all that is good and Twilight.**

* * *

_Told_

She tapped an egg against the side of the plastic bowl, careful not to get any of the shell into the cake mix she was preparing. She reached for the second but was stopped by five frozen fingers snaring her wrist in an unshakeable grip. With a sigh, she reached for it with her free hand, ignoring Alice, perched atop the counter next to her.

"Bella, why won't you talk to me?" Her voice was high and frantic. She released the hand she was holding and watched through wide eyes as she added the second egg. "You read the letter, stick it in your pocket, and then you come here to Charlie's house. What did it say?"

She shook her head, smiling. "It was nothing. I just haven't seen Charlie very much and there's really no reason. He's not mad at me anymore." She paused and set the batter-coated spoon to the side. "I wish you ate cake. You'd like this one."

Alice nodded, not failing to see her attempt to change the subject. "I'm sure it's good, but you're avoiding the question. Now tell me."

She glanced over her shoulder before bending down to pull a measuring cup out of the cabinet. She poured 2/3 cup milk into the still very thick batter. "Don't you know already, Miss I-See-the-Future?"

"I feel like I should have some idea – " she froze. The light bulb going off was almost visible in her golden eyes. "Jacob."

Bella nodded, pouring the cake mix into the greased pan. "That's good, Alice. Maybe next time you'll get it all on your own."

She leapt down from the counter. "What did he say?"

"Nothing more than what Seth should have told me when I went down to see Sam and Emily. I'm gonna have to have a little chat with him because he had the audacity to_ keep_ that secret."

Alice paused, head tilted like she was listening for something. Then she smiled, and asked, "What about the secret you've from Edward?"

She opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted.

"What secret?"

Edward stood in the doorway, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. His cheeks were a faint shade of pink from the ice-tinted wind that whipped against the house. He took off his coat and hung it over a chair.

Alice looked into the glare with a smile. "You needed to tell him."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a way of complicating any situation you come in contact with?"

She laughed. "You'll thank me when you get home."

With a roll of her eyes, she turned back to the cabinets and pulled out three bowls and turned to set them on the counter. "If you go now, you can catch up with Carlisle."

She headed down the hall, "Are you kidding? I'm racing him home."

Bella turned her eyes to Edward who was looking at her with an expectant expression, "What secret?"

She shook her head and moved towards the refrigerator, taking out a large bowl. "It's not as big a deal as she's making it out to be. Jake imprinted; I'm having a baby. Do you want your salad now?"

He took a deep breath and sunk into a chair. "I think I might."

She nodded. "I figured as much."

"A baby?"

"Yep," she nodded and came around with their salads and two forks. "Alice told me yesterday."

He was silent, staring straight into the bowl. He shoved a few bites into his mouth, ignoring her as she watched him. She wanted some reaction, even if it wasn't a good one.

"Edward?" He looked up at her. "Are you okay?"

A grin shot across his face and he stood up, pulling her into his arms. Her feet left the ground. "Of course I'm okay, Bella," he laughed.

He set her on the ground again, one arm encircling her waist, the other hand cupping her face. She raised herself to her tip-toes and kissed him. "Thank you," he whispered against her cheek.

"For what?"

"Everything." He sat down, pulling her into his lap. A hand came around her waist to rest right above her lower abdomen. He put his chin on her forehead. "Jacob imprinted?"

"Mhm," she nodded. "He sent me a letter from Mexico. He said he met her in some place called the Riviera Maya. It's somewhere south of Cancun. He didn't say _how_ they met which leads me to believe, he saw her, imprinted and then played the crazy stalker for a little while. But she does know English and has dual citizenship. Her father died when she was seven in the line of duty; I'm not sure where he was, Afghanistan perhaps. She went to stay with her mother's family."

"He told you all that?"

"That was pretty much all he told me," she sighed. "It was a dry letter. Like he was avoiding talking to _me_ and was just giving me a report. Her name is Milagra Carmichael and he's coming back with her as soon as she can get all of her stuff together."

"And you're okay with this? You're not going to overreact?"

"I've overreacted one too many times over the past couple of days," she sighed. "But, Jacob aside, what kind of a name is Milagra anyway?"

He smiled. "It is a female name of Spanish origin, meaning miracle."

"How do you know that?"

"I knew a Milagra once. She was a – she was unkind."

Bella turned to look at him. She couldn't stop the shocked look that came over her face. "Edward, were you about to call her a bi – "

He ducked his head, "Yes, I was. And if you'd met her, you would have called her worse than that."

"Still, the only derogatory thing I've ever heard you say was in reference to Jake and his werewolf-ness. It just makes me wonder how many times you've thought things and then haven't said them."

"Doesn't everyone do that?"

"It's different from you. You're…Edward."

He shook his head and slid her out of his lap. She moved to her own seat as Charlie entered the house. He trudged down the hall, glum face brightening at the sight of them. "Bells, Edward. It's good to see you two around here again. What are you up to?"

She smiled up at him, crossing her legs and bringing another bite of chilled lettuce to her lips. "Well, we've got a lot to talk about. I haven't seen you very much here lately, and so I thought we'd come over for dinner. Hope you're hungry. There's chicken, pasta, and a carrot cake in the oven."

"I'm famished," he sighed, pouring himself a glass of water and peeking in at the cake that was turning into a golden brown in the oven. He came back around and pulled out the chair next to Edward, scraping it across the floor. "So, what've you kids got to tell me? Nothing bad, I hope. I don't think I want to know if it's bad news. You two seem to get into a lot of trouble."

"It's not bad news, don't worry," Bella shook her head. "The letter that you got was from Jake. He's in Mexico and he's coming back soon, bringing his girlfriend with him. Isn't that great? Oh, and Edward and I are gonna be parents here in a few months. I just found out last night. This is the first time I've been calm enough to come over here and tell you you're gonna be a grandpa."

His face picked up a blotchy red hue, eyes huge, mouth hanging open on invisible hinges. Edward looked away, avoiding the intense stare that was being directed at him. Bella hid her smile and stood, walking to the counter. She whistled a little as she filled the third bowl with salad and looked up at him, "The salad helps. I just told Edward not ten minutes ago. It really helps. Want some?"

He nodded his head once and took the bowl she passed him, forcing three large bites into his mouth at once. After he swallowed, he nodded again, "Congratulations, you two."

Her eyes widened. "You're not angry?"

He shook his head. "I decided that getting bent out of shape wasn't going to solve anything. You two got married and now you've decided to start a family. At least you got married first."

Bella's eyes flickered to Edward's. It was probably best that Charlie remain ignorant to the fact that he was the one adamant about preserving their virtues until after marriage; there was no way she could tell him that until very recently, there was a nonexistent possibility of them starting a family. She opted for silence instead. The chance that she wouldn't slip up and say something she shouldn't was better that way.

Charlie sat straight in his seat. "So Jacob found a girl in Mexico, huh? Why there?"

Edward laughed. "That's what everyone wants to know."

* * *

**We get to meet Milagra next time and Jake pops up for the first time. Sorry if this chapter is a little short, I was rushing.**

**Quote from "Miracle"**

**"_Seriously Jake, you should get a dog."_**


	14. Miracle

**Sorry this chapter is so late. I meant to get it up at 3:00. If all goes well, there should be two more today but I might get lazy again. **

**Disclaimer: Mila's ours, you can't have her. Everything else is Stephenie's and you can't have that either.**

_**Miracle**_

The roads were dangerous by the time Charlie finished his barrage of questions, some of them expected, some of them pointless, and some of them rhetoric. They had sat across from him on the couch, as he scraped the cream cheese icing from his plate. The topic of conversation had drifted away from Jacob and the impending arrival for awhile, going to small talk about how Edward's family was.

"How's Alice, by the way?" he asked, putting the plate down and leaning back. "I haven't seen her in awhile. What's she been up to?"

"Nothing more than usual," Bella told him. "And you should see her tonight. She dropped us off earlier and said she'd pick us up when she was coming back from shopping."

It was a lie, it's true, but it suited Charlie just fine. "She went shopping tonight? Did she know how much snow we're supposed to get tonight?"

Edward smiled, "Oh, she knew. But that wasn't going to stop her. She had her mind set on getting something and no one could have stopped her. Esme tried."

"Why don't you kids stay here tonight?"

"Dad, I didn't leave anything but junk up in my room," she protested. "If we don't leave tonight, I don't know when we'll ever get out. If what they say is true, wherever we are at about midnight is where we'll be staying and I'd rather be home, in a bed with sheets, where I actually have clothes."

"Valid point, Bells," he sighed. "I just miss you. You should come by more often."

"You just miss my food," she laughed.

"I miss you. The food's part of the package."

Edward stood, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "I think I'm gonna go ahead and call Alice. The ice is coming down hard out there. If she's not close by, we probably should stay here."

Charlie nodded. "The voice of reason."

He sat back down. "She called and we didn't hear it. She said she'd be here in five minutes."

"I think we can wait that long," Bella said. "So, Dad, if Billy says anything to you about Jacob, let me know, okay?"

"I sure will," he nodded. "I can't believe he went all the way to Mexico because of you, Bells."

Edward laughed at the dumfounded look on her face. "I'm sure it had nothing to do with me. Maybe he always wanted to go to Mexico and the opportunity arose so he grabbed it. I really doubt it was my fault."

"You're probably right."

There was a knock on the door and Charlie rose to get it. Edward passed her coat to her before pulling on his own. They heard a high, familiar voice, "Hi, Charlie! It's cold out here."

"Like she can feel it," Bella mumbled. He took her hand and they went to greet their ride.

"Do you want to come in and get warm before you go back out?"

She shook to flecks of snow out of her raven hair. "No, thanks. We need to get going. If we wait any more, the roads are just gonna get worse. I slipped once on the way back."

"Be careful, you all," he sounded almost like he was about to forbid them from going but Alice turned her radiant smile on him and he melted, just like always. She helped each of them into the backseat before she climbed in. Her tires didn't deviate so much as a millimeter the whole ride home.

Esme had two mugs of apple cider in her hands when she greeted them at the door. Bella took hers and went upstairs, with a soft goodnight. One mug of cider, a pre-natal vitamin – which was Alice's shopping goal all along – and thirty minutes in the shower later, she was seated in front of Edward's laptop reading through five emails Renée had sent her regarding the baby. Her hair dripped droplets of water onto the mattress around her.

The door opened and Edward walked in, his bronze hair darkened from a shower too. He climbed up next to her on the bed and collapsed onto the pillows, eyes closed. She deleted the first four emails her mother had sent her and then glanced over at him, "Hot water feels great doesn't it."

"It does." His voice was muffled. He raised his head, "Oh, I almost forgot. Seth just called. He said he wanted to tell us before he forgot. Emily is having a picnic for the pack once the weather is nice enough to go outside. She wanted to know if you'd help cook."

"Of course I'll help," Bella nodded. "It's nice to know they haven't forgotten us."

She closed out of what she was doing and went to turn the laptop off. The battery needed to be charged anyway. "Edward, what do you want for your birthday? I know we've got a long way to go but still. I've never gotten you anything for your birthday before."

"You don't have to get me anything," he shook his head. "Not because I'm weird about it like you are, but because I truly don't need anything. And where did this fascination with my birthday come from?"

"Well," she said. "You're actually getting older this time around. Eighteen."

"It's really not fair. I've been around about ninety years longer than you have and you still ended up older than me."

"It's not something I wanted, I can promise you that." She reached over to put the laptop onto the floor where she wouldn't step on it the next morning. She flipped off the light and climbed under the sheets. "I think I'm going to bed."

"Me, too," he agreed and did the same. He pulled her back to his chest. She felt his lips at the top of her head. "Goodnight, love."

"'Night, Edward."

"Goodnight, little nameless person."

"Goodnight, Edward," she sighed. He laughed and pulled her closer, humming in her ear until they both fell asleep.

* * *

Bella parked the silver Volvo just in front of the small house. Her truck had finally left the world for a better place, and she still mourned the loss, which was why she had threatened to wreck Alice's porsche should any vehicle appear in the driveway for her. She climbed out, slipping the keys into her jeans pocket. She'd agreed to come only for the cooking aspect. She had a doctor's appointment later that afternoon; Carlisle was concerned about her blood pressure and the effect that it could have on the baby. Embry ushered her before she could knock on the door.

"Welcome, Bella," he greeted. "Nice to see you again."

He did a double take, eyes widening at her stomach, stretched tight against the shirt she wore. She rolled her eyes and then swept them across the kitchen at the organized chaos unfolding around them. Emily was mixing sugar into a pitcher of fresh sqeezed lemonade. There were trays and containers of every food imaginable, filling up the space on the kitchen table. "Embry, weren't you about to go outside and help Sam round everyone up?"

He nodded, took one more to stare at Bella's abdomen and then bounded out the front door. Emily's smile was soft, but warm. "Bella, you look wonderful. Seth didn't tell us you were having a baby."

"Seth doesn't know," she shrugged her shoulders. "Edward seems to have my phone more than I do. I haven't talked to Seth in a long time. What can I do?"

"Well nothing too much," she shook her head. "We've got pasta boiling for pasta salad. They're almost done. Do you want to mix it all together for me?"

"Sure," she took the various seasonings and mayonnaise that was passed down the counter. A woman by the stove drained the steaming water from the pot and put the noodles into a bowl. Bella looked at her. She had blended in very well. "I'm sorry. Who's this?"

Emily snapped her head up, surprised. The new woman must be very quiet for her presence to have been forgotten. "Oh, Bella, I'm sorry. Um, this is Mila. Mila Carmichael."

She turned, a small smile on her face. Her skin was a lighter shade than Emily's, like she'd seen her share of days in direct sunlight. Her eyes were hazel, not straight brown, and were kind, timid. Her features, although beautiful, were simple and unembellished. Not a trace of makeup accentuated her eyes or cheekbones; the face that looked out from the thick, coffee colored waves was all natural. It was nothing like what Bella had imagined Milagra Carmichael to look like.

"Pleased to meet you." Her accent wasn't as thick as some she'd heard, but it was noticeable. Her English was perfect.

"Same here," she was quick to say. "So, if you're here then so is - "

The front door opened. "There you are, Mila," the familiar voice paused, "and Bella."

"Hi Jake," there was an edge to her voice. Emily slid the mayonnaise back down the counter and took the bowl of drained pasta from Milagra. She spooned it in, stirring. Every moment or so, she glanced up, eyes sweeping over the three other occupants of the room.

He walked around her to take a bottle of water out of the fridge. She didn't miss that he slipped his arm around her waist as soon as he was by her side. "So what've you been up to?"

"You know, that's a question that I could ask you, too."

He motioned with his hand, "You've met Mila, haven't you?" He held the water bottle out to her, she shook her head with a smile. She slipped from his arm with a murmur of "_no, gracias_", and took a tin of muffins out of the oven.

"I have met Mila," she nodded and looked to the girl. She couldn't be any older than seventeen. "I'm Bella, by the way."

"I've been in Mexico with her, you knew that," he sat down. "And you've been up here with Edward, living the married life."

Emily picked up a tray of sandwiches and grabbed a basket full of napkins, plates, utensils, and a container of cookies. She went to the door and left them with her parting words, "You two should be nice."

She dropped her head, thinking. This wasn't how she'd imagined finding out the Jacob was back and meeting the girl he'd met in Mexico. No doubt Seth had known when he'd called that Jacob would be back by now and had pulled her out here for that purpose, and not because Emily needed help with the cooking. It was almost finished by the time she'd gotten there. It wasn't that she was angry that he'd imprinted on Milagra, or that she didn't like her. It was just that one little sliver of her heart that was traitorous, rebellious. She looked up again and smiled. That part of her wasn't going to be taking advantage of anyone today.

"I guess you don't know the big news," she smiled. Milagra walked around the counter with a plastic bowl of muffins and the pitcher of lemonade that Emily'd been making.

"She is having a baby," she announced. "Isn't that exciting? When is it due?"

"The beginning of October," Bella answered. She watched Jacob out of the corner of her eye. He was frozen for a moment, eyes giving away his shock, but then he relaxed and a boyish grin came over his face. Milagra looked between the two of them and nodded, "I'm going to take this to Emily. You two should talk."

They were alone in the room the next instant. He looked down at his hands. "She knows everything. I told her before I even asked if she'd consider leaving Mexico. I think she's okay with it."

"She wouldn't have left if she wasn't."

"No probably not," he sighed. He hesitated and then the words spilled out, "I didn't go to Mexico to find her. I swear I didn't."

"But you did find her," she pointed out. "And I'm glad you did. I like her."

"Already?"

"I think it's the accent." Bella took a breath. "I _am_ sorry for the way I left things. But I think it turned out okay. You have Mila, I have Edward. We both did okay, I think. And, I mean, just because I'm married and you imprinted, it doesn't mean that we can't be friends. That you can't still annoy the hell out of me all the time."

He was silent a moment and then he looked up, grinning again. "Can I spoil the kid?"

She laughed, "I know everyone's gonna do it but you're the first one to ask."

He laughed. After a few moments of just enjoying the other's presence again, he sighed, "You know, the worst part about leaving was Billy. He was so lonely. He had visitors everyday. I didn't think about it when I left, I just did."

"I'm sure he understands." An idea popped into her head. "I know what you should do. You should get Billy a dog. That way, whenever you have to leave, he'll still have someone to keep him company."

He looked at her like she'd gone mad, and she probably had by that point. "Are you crazy?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm serious, Jake, you should get a dog."

"But Mila - "

"Mila looks like the type of person who would _love_ a dog."

"Bells, I _am_ a dog," he stopped, closing his eyes. She did her best to stifle the laugh. "It wasn't supposed to sound like that."

"It's true, though," she said. "I missed you, Jake."

He nodded, "I missed you too. It's good to be home."

* * *

**I really am planning on giving Jake a dog. Any suggestions on names for said dog? The next chapter is halfway finished so it shouldn't be too long before it's up too. Hope you're enjoying the story so far.**

**Quote from "Eighteen"**

**_"Yeah, I think I'd take the newborn right now."_**

* * *


	15. Eighteen

**It has taken forever to get this stupid thing typed up. It was originally written to be from Edward's perspective, so please forgive any instances where it doesn't sound like Bella's pov. It's short, too, but it was meant to be twice as long as it is. Edward 18th birthday was supposed to be here and we will get it out there eventually, probably as a oneshot. That's where the quote came from. **

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Mila Carmichael and Aurora Cullen belong to us.**

_**Eighteen**_

The noon sun beat down on them in the midst of the fragrant floral beauty of their meadow. It had always been a sanctuary to them; she smiled down at his head in her lap, eyes closed with a small smile on his face. She raised a hand to trace across his features, over his eyelids, along his cheekbones. She stroke strands of his hair out of his eyes. The warmth of the sun on her shoulders and the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips whisked her away to a heaven she could only find with him.

She was hesitant to break the silence, but the tranquility remained even after, "What are you thinking about?"

He opened his eyes, focusing up at her. His contented grin didn't slide off his face. "Isn't that the question I usually ask you?"

She nodded, hair tumbling over her shoulders. "Yes, but I think it's legitimate."

"Why do you say that?"

"'Cause you have this happy little grin on your face. I just wanted to know what you were smiling about."

He allowed her to shut his eyes and relaxed in her arms. "I'm happy, Bella, I'm very, very happy."

She ran a hand down his jaw. "That's nice to hear."

"I'm glad our lives have settled down. Before, it just felt like there was always something – some obstacle we had to face. Not like now."

She nodded, though he couldn't see, "You're right of course. I don't think both of us being vampires would have been anywhere near as amazing as it is with both of us human."

"It's all so strange," he commented, his hand finding hers in the grass. "There's so much that I can't do anymore. Yet I feel as if I've gained the world."

"You're mortal now. How is that gaining the world?"

He squeezed her hand. "I'm getting older, Bella. I'm eighteen today. Do you know how many decades I've spent wanting to be this old."

She looked up at the sky. It hadn't been this clear in a long time. "Getting older makes you feel good inside. What kind of a fool did I marry who gets excited at the prospect of old age?"

He joined in her laughter. As much as she joked, she understood. She looked down when he went on in his explanation, a boyish excitement in his voice, "We'll be the crazy old couple on the porch one day and every Friday night we'll sit up late in our rocking chars."

She stroked his forehead as he went on. "Our grandkids will sit in our laps and listen to us tell them stories about when we were younger. I'll tell them how you talked in your sleep and you can tell them all about how I stopped in front of you so you'd have to talk to Tyler – "

She stooped down, squeezing his hand and running her other through his hair, to press her lips to his. She had been more than a little surprised to discover that somewhere along the way, he'd developed a reaction of losing coherency around her just as much as she did around him. She drew away with little warning and smiled. His free hand came up to cup her face.

"It's a beautiful dream, Edward," she sighed. "But we have to start with _this_ baby first."

His face burst into a wide grin and he tilted his head to press a kiss to her stomach, where she looked like she was hiding a deflated basketball. With a gentle push, he bid her lay back on the grass next to him and he placed his head over her rounded abdomen. He glanced up at her, "There's a person in there."

She shook with laughter. "That's typically what it means when the test turns up positive."

"Or when the aunt has a premonition of you delivering a baby."

"That, too."

He kissed her stomach again before moving to lay beside her. Their eyes were at the same level. "It's just an incredible concept to think that you and I created a baby. Another human being."

She nodded. "I know."

"And she'll be human and perfect – "

"She?"

He nodded, "It's a girl."

She raised a brow, "Alice told you?"

"No, but it's a girl."

She wrapped her arms around him and put her head to his chest. The steady rhythm of his heart tickled her ear. "If you say so."

"I say so."

She felt him kiss her head and then heard the rustle in the grass that let her know he'd let his head fall back to gaze up at the sky. She pulled herself as tight as the baby, their supposed daughter, would allow. It was a far different future than the one she'd imagined they'd have, but she liked it. This may not have been the future she had _ever_ seen herself having, but it fit. This was _their_ future.

"Do you miss it?"

He didn't move but stopped his humming, "Miss what?"

She tilted her head back to gaze at his face, "The things you could do. Do you miss being able to know what everyone's thinking? Being able to run at the speed of light or drive without paying any attention to the road? Being indestructible?"

He sighed, "Bella, those were things I never wanted to do. At the time, I suppose running and speeding were moderately enjoyable but it wasn't something that I ever _wanted_."

"You didn't answer about reading minds."

"It made it easier. It's more of the fact that I was used to it than that I miss it. I don't _miss_ being eternally damned," he chuckled. "I guess I have you to thank for that."

"What do you mean?"

"You brought me out of twilight. I can do all of the things I've always been jealous of other people for doing. I can stand in the sunlight, direct sunlight, and nothing happens. It's like I'm allowed to see dawn."

She blinked. Something about what he had said caught her attention. "Dawn…"

"What about it?"

She shook her head a little, clearing it, "I was thinking about a name for the baby. And if you're right about it being a girl then…" she let her voice trail off again.

"You want to name her Dawn?"

"Not _Dawn_, exactly, but something similar."

She saw the sarcastic smirk on his face. "Dawn-_a_?"

She swatted his arm. "No, but maybe something that means dawn or sunrise or something.

"Well there's Elaina, Helen, and Arin. All three of those mean light."

"No, she'll be unique. Her name needs to be as well."

"Aurora?"

Her head shot up. "That's perfect!"

He sat up, keeping his arms around her. She moved her head onto his shoulder, looking out at the meadow from the corner of her eye. He nodded against her hair, "Aurora Cullen."

"She needs a middle name, too. Something simple and sweet."

"Like Grace or Caroline?"

"No, different," Bella shook her head. None of his suggestions sounded anything like what she was looking for. She wasn't sure what she wanted, but she'd know it when she saw it. She paused, racking through her mind for any name that might work, anything. Then she found it, so obvious she laughed a little. "Masen."

He looked down at her, blatant surprise registering in his eyes. "My last name? Before I adopted Cullen?"

She nodded and pulled out of his arms enough for her to face him. "The human Edward, then and now. You've brought that Edward through time and preserved him in our daughter."

He smiled, crinkling his eyes in the process. "Thank you, Bella Cullen."

"Don't mention it, Edward, I love you."

"I know," he laughed.

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**We hope everyone liked it! **

**Quote from "Aunts":**

**_"You mean like a will?"_**

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	16. Aunt

**Here is the 16th chapter. Thanks to all of you who have left reviews. You've been very kind to us; it's encouraging to know that people like what you've written. This chapter comes in at the beginning of September, just a little before Bella's 20th birthday. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Mila and Aurora belong to us.**

_**Aunt**_

Alice came up behind her at a more human pace than usual, even going so far as the ease the front door shut before she slipped her petite frame next to hers on the stone steps. Without a word, she held out a glass full near to the brim with water and two capsules of aspirin, which was taken without reply. Bella closed her eyes, breathing in the calm of the morning, the rustle of nearby leaves; rushing water somewhere close calmed her nerves. She tipped her head back and tossed the medicine into her mouth, swallowing them with a few gulps of water.

"You should have said something before Carlisle left," she scolded, though her voice was soft. "He could have given you something a little stronger for that headache of yours."

"Edward would have known," she shook her head. "He has enough to worry about as it is."

She turned wide topaz eyes on her. "Bella, you're miserable."

She snorted, "I'm eight months pregnant; of course I'm miserable."

Alice wasn't to be dissuaded. She could see right through the façade, that everything was okay. She tilted her head to this side a fraction, taking in the grimace that came onto her face with another bout of nausea. Bella wanted nothing more than to bring her hands up to rub her temples, to do something to make the awful throbbing in her head ease up, but she wasn't about to let anyone know how wretched she actually felt.

"It's more than that and you know it," she whispered. "Your blood pressure is off the charts, your head is killing you, and the four times you threw up yesterday had nothing to do with morning sickness."

"How do you know that?"

"Because you don't take Excedrin for morning sickness," she pointed out. "And you took half a bottle yesterday, in vain might I add. It came back up."

Her stomach jolted and she took another small sip of the cool, iced water. Munching on the crushed ice that floated near the top helped to some degree. She hadn't eaten much of anything in the past couple of days; the chewing motion deceived her mind into thinking it had. "Can we please get off of that subject? It's not pleasant and, if we don't stop, I'll be doing it again. Where did everyone go again? I know Edward was going to Port Angeles to pick out some furniture for the nursery, but where else were they going?"

"Rosalie went because she's been trying to think of something to get for you," Alice offered. "She didn't want to upset you and make your blood pressure go up by getting you something for your birthday. In fact, Esme went for the very same reason. They're getting stuff you'll need in the coming months and labeling them birthday gifts. And you need them, so you can't get mad. Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett went hunting, as you know."

"Is Rosalie mad? That all this stuff is falling on her shoulders?"

"She decided that being unsupportive would only make matters worse," Alice explained. "And she's not mad because of what's going on with you and the baby. None of us are. She's just jealous because, deep down, she's always wanted to have a child that she could spoil rotten. And you know what I decided once I figured that out?"

"What?"

"Rosalie would make a great mother. She's more serious than I am, takes things more seriously. I think your baby is making us all a little more aware of what we lost when we became what we are. Not me, necessarily, I don't remember it. Rosalie's just envious. Esme is excited at the prospect of having a child in the house to love and nurture, but she's finding herself dwelling more and more on the son she lost. Jasper – "

"I know what Jasper thinks," she interrupted. "But, you know what – "

She froze, sitting up straight. Alice glanced in her direction, no doubt knowing what was going to happen. She took the glass of water from her tight grip and set it down, scooping her up into her arms and shooting into the house and up the stairs. Bella came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, smacking on a piece of chewing gum. Her face was ashen, forehead clammy. "I hate being sick," she groaned.

"I'm going to call Carlisle," Alice said, half-dragging her dead weight into the bedroom and lifting her up onto the golden comforter. "You are _not_ okay."

She slumped onto the nearest pillow and wrapped her arms around it. "No, don't. They've been trying to go hunting for a week now and every time they're about to leave, something happens. Trust me, I can last a little bit longer. I think I'll just go get one of my emergency pills to bring my blood pressure down again. You know it's high."

Alice nodded and was back before Bella knew she had gone. She swallowed the tiny pill, hoping it stayed down. She hated this feeling of being miserable, of not being able to get out of bed without her head pounding and her stomach churning. She hadn't told Edward, but she'd already made up her mind. If they ever decided down the road that they wanted to have another child, they were adopting. She wasn't about to put herself through this again.

"I had no intention of causing such trouble for you all when I came to Forks," she muttered, her voice muffled by the pillow she was clutching to her chest. "You do know that, right?"

Alice climbed atop the bed and laid down on her back beside her, crossing her arms across her stomach. She heaved a long sigh.

"Life sucks," she intoned after a moment. Bella smiled and drew the pillow closer to her.

"It really does." Alice let her arms slide off her stomach and tilted her head to face her. Her muffled voice asked, "Have you ever thought about what the visions of the Volturi could mean for us?"

She raised her head. "How do you know about those visions?"

"Alice, I'm not stupid," she shook her head. "I've seen your expressionless face and then the fake, too sweet smile that you give me afterwards. I know how you end conversations when I enter the room. I know about the two hour phone talk you had with Sam."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I would have told you but I didn't think you needed to hear it. And besides, it turned out to be nothing anyway."

"'Nothing' doesn't put you on the phone with the leader of a pack of werewolves for two hours, Alice," she snapped.

"It was just a precaution. I saw the Volturi contemplating coming to check on a renegade vampire loose in the Carolinas. I was afraid that they might swing by here, if they did come. But the problem took care of itself. They decided it wasn't worth leaving Volterra. No need to worry."

"I'm not worried," she said. "I just don't like being in the dark."

She trained her eyes on the ceiling; already the pulsing in her head was slowing. There was something to be said for those "emergency pills" that Carlisle had given her. They took care of the problem quickly. The soft voice drew her back to reality, "Bella, how can you worry about the Volturi and still remain so calm?"

She rolled onto her back to mirror Alice's posture. The pillow was still firm within her grip across her chest. "I'm going to be a mother in a few weeks and I am very unprepared for the responsibility. As you know, it isn't uncommon for me to find my way into dangerous situations." Alice nodded her head in agreement. "That being the case, I would not want the Volturi to suddenly become a problem again before I've made arrangements for my daughter."

"Arrangements? You and Edward have made plans for Aurora? You mean like a will?"

"No, but I've thought about it," she shook her head. "Edward wouldn't want to think about something like that. Actually, if you really want to know, it was Jasper that really got me thinking about it."

Alice rolled onto her side. Her short, dark hair fell into her eyes, now alight with curiosity. "Jasper?"

"We were talking about you, remember?" She gave a brief nod. "He said that he wished he could give you the chance to be a mother, that he wanted that more than giving himself the chance to be a father. And that got me thinking."

She raised a brow. "About what you'd do if something happened to you and Edward?"

She shook her head. "About what I _wouldn't _do if something went wrong."

She propped herself up on her elbows as Bella continued, "Alice I love you like a sister and I think you will make an amazing aunt. You'll spoil her, give her whatever she wants whenever she wants it plus some, she could talk to you about all the problems she couldn't bring to me…you're the perfect aunt. It took me awhile, a long, long while, to come to terms with the fact that I think you could only be an aunt."

"What does that mean?" her voice was slow and even. She gave nothing away. If she was angry, confused, hurt, it didn't show.

Bella sat up, too fast. The room spun around her but she hurried on, "Don't be angry Alice! I think, if something bad happened to me and to Edward, I wouldn't want you to take custody of Aurora. I would want – "

"You would want Rosalie to raise her, wouldn't you?"

A softer expression had come over her face. The gentle glow of light that managed to seep through the sky cast a serene light into the room and Alice appeared content. There was no trace of anger upon her face and no hurt within her pools of liquid gold. She looked almost relieved. Bella waited a moment before she whispered, "Yes."

Alice smiled and settled back down onto the bed, "You know, little Aurora Masen Cullen is very lucky to have so many people who love her."

She nodded, shifting in the bed until she was on her side again, Edward's pillow beneath her head. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes and allowing the scent on the fabric of the pillow case to soothe her senses. She felt the world slip just out of reach. She was still aware of what was going on around her to fell the disappearance of Alice's slight weight from the mattress, and to acknowledge the thin blanket with a soft groan. She thought she heard something about calling Carlisle, but that may have been her imagination.

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**Hope everyone liked it! Next time we welcome the precious little baby!**

**Quote from "Arrival"**

**_"Yeah, I think I'd take the newborn right now."_ -Trust us, it fits.**

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	17. Arrival

**So we lied yesterday when we said we were going to post four chapters. Bear with us in this chapter. Neither one of us has ever had a baby so we're only speculating on what it's actually like. We know it's not pleasant. So here's the sixteenth chapter. We're counting down the minutes tomorrow, when Breaking Dawn is exposed to the world and Madi is officially sixteen years old. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: The only thing we own are the two characters Mila and Aurora. Credit for all else goes to Ms. Meyer.**

_**Arrival**_

She was more than a little grateful to Esme as she strode through the grass towards Jacob's house. The woman always seemed to know when she needed a break from the overprotective, though well-meaning, members of her family. Edward had gotten over whatever misgivings he had about sending her on her way to La Push, but as they approached the last month of her pregnancy, even he was hesitant to let her out of his sight.

"What are you doing here, Bells?" Jacob asked, coming around from the garage.

"Oh, nothing," she shrugged. "Just coming down to make sure you were holding down the fort okay."

He laughed and motioned for her to come inside with him, "I hope you hobbled all the way down here for something a little more important than that."

She sat down at the first chair she saw, mock-glaring at him through strands of hair the wind had blown out of her ponytail. "I did not hobble."

"Waddle?"

"Jake!"

Milagra came down the hall, smiling at their visitor. "Hello, Bella. How are you? How is the baby?"

"She's doing great, thank you for asking," she smiled. "How are you?"

"I am settling in just fine," she nodded, sitting down as well. "Emily is giving me a room at her house to stay in for now."

Jacob slouched onto the couch, leaning back. He was the image of contentment with his relaxed posture and smiling face. Milagra turned to him, a frown on her face. Her accented voice lapsed into its second language, "Jacob, ¿_dónde está nuestro pequeño perrito?"_

He looked at her, not quite understanding. Bella rolled her eyes, "Where's the dog Jake?"

Milagra looked to her, surprise registering on her face. "You know Spanish?"

"I took it in high school."

Jacob said, "B.J.'s in the kitchen with Dad."

"B.J.?"

"Billy Junior," he shrugged, watching as she went down the hall to find the missing puppy. "I thought it was funny. What's really funny is that, Mila's accent won't let her say B.J. so she calls him _Bajo_. It means short."

"Yeah, I know," she laughed. "You know, you're really lucky that she speaks English too. It would have really sucked if you hadn't been able to talk to her."

He waved her off, "I would have just picked up Spanish, is all."

She shifted in her seat, attempting to ward off the aggravating backache she'd had all day. She'd woken up with it after the talk she'd had with Alice last night and had been pretending that it didn't bother her; she'd had psychic eyes watching her since she hit her third trimester. Jacob didn't miss the grimace that came over her face. "Bella, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded, hiding the faint note of pain from her voice well. It seared across her lower back again. "No! I'm not."

He blinked once, twice. "You're in labor, aren't you?" His voice was incredulous.

She bent over her stomach, breathing deep and slow. "Yes, I am. Would you grab a phone, please? Alice can't see me when I'm down here."

He reached over his shoulder to grab the cordless phone on the table next to him. He looked up at her. "What's the number?"

"Oh, give me that," she hissed, stretching out her hand to take it from him. She dialed the numbers with a fury and lifted it to her ear. It picked up on the second ring. "Rosalie?"

"Bella, is that you?"

"Could you send someone to get me please? I think I'm in labor," she said.

There was a pause on the other end, a frantic silence. She heard low, fast whispers that she couldn't decipher, but she relaxed against the seat. Someone would be to get her soon. Rosalie was back, "Esme and Alice are on their way to get you. Ask him to get you to the boundary as soon as he possibly can. If they have to wait more than a minute or two, Alice said she'd cross it. _Treaty be damned_, were her exact words."

She held the phone to her shoulder, "Jake, can you get me to the border? Alice said she'd cross the line if she had to wait very long."

He smirked. "She wouldn't dare."

"Oh, yes she would. Please?"

"Of course I will," he nodded, standing and racing down the hall. He came back with his keys, Milagra and Billy trailing behind. A blur of brown, assumed to be B.J., the new puppy, cut around all of them. "Ready to go?"

She lifted the phone to her ear again, "We're about to leave. Thanks again, Rose."

"Carlisle has already left for the hospital. I'm going to go help Edward find some stuff for you and then we'll be right behind him."

"Would you ask Jasper if he's coming? I think I'm going to panic," Bella asked after a moment's deliberation.

"He and Emmett are coming as well. Don't worry."

"I'll see you at the hospital."

She hung up the phone and eased herself out of the chair. She was definitely not going to go through this again. Having a baby wasn't worth it.

They rode in tense silence. She kept her eyes forward, staring at the road in front of them without really seeing it. This wasn't a scenario she'd expected to live out. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine Jacob would be the one driving her halfway to the hospital so she could have her baby. The trees blended together in her peripheral vision; all at once, the lines swerved in front of her. She looked at Jacob. "Would you mind keeping the car between the lines?"

He glanced at her, confused. "The car is between the lines, Bella. They haven't left. I promise."

She shook her head, trying to clear it. The road in front of her blurred. It wasn't the car. It was her. "Bella, are you okay?"

She leaned her head against the window, willing down the wave of panic. "I am very dizzy. I don't think that's supposed to happen."

"There they are," he announced, coming to a halt right before he hit Alice's beloved Porsche. They were already stalking towards them. "Do you want me to follow behind? I could pick up Charlie."

"That's fine," she mumbled. "I don't care. I just want to feel normal again. I don't like being pregnant."

Alice opened the passenger door and she stumbled out into Esme's arms, waiting to guide her. "Are you alright, dear? This is a bit early."

Her vision swam again. For a moment, she lost sight of the golden eyes and caramel colored hair. She stopped in the middle of the road, struggling to get her bearings again. "I think that something isn't right. I shouldn't be this dizzy."

Alice came on her other side, helping her into the backseat where Esme slid in next to her. "Carlisle's waiting for us."

"Hurry, Alice," the soft voice insisted. "She doesn't look well."

She laid her head on the cold, hard shoulder and tried to ignore the call that was urging her to sleep. Pale, slender fingers stroked her face and whispered in her ear. She heard the dull thrum of the engine as it accelerated. She was pulled from the dark, quiet at the sound of commotion all around her. She was taken from the comforting arms and somewhere along the way she felt a sting in her arm. The cramping in her lower stomach and back was more insistent, spreading through her lower half. She breathed in the sterile air of the hospital.

"Bella, can you hear me?" Carlisle was somewhere beside her and she heard Anna Corithers, her obstetrician, close by, too. But she couldn't stay in one place for very long. She was submerged in darkness once again.

_The whole house seemed to be draped in streamers of every color she could imagine. There was a large cake on the dining room table, and plastic plates and forks. There was to be no repeats of the last birthday within the house. Bella led him through the house, smiling at the look of shock that registered on his face. She laughed. _

"_Don't tell me you thought Alice was going to overlook your turning eighteen," she pulled him along. "I must admit, though, Jasper was a little hesitant to wrap the presents. He thought bags with tissue paper was a better route to take. Alice won, of course."_

"_Presents?" he questioned, emerald eyes sweeping over the pile by the window. He looked back to her. "I don't need anything, Bella, really."_

"_You're starting to sound like me," she teased, pushing him into a chair at the head of the table. Alice waltzed in, wearing a black sleeveless shirt that accentuated the paleness of her skin. _

"_Bella, you brought him back early," she complained, puckering her lower lip. "We weren't ready yet. Emmett had to go get something to – to fix a problem."_

"_What problem?"_

"_He, er, had an issue wrapping your gift," she explained. "But it's fixed now. He's on his way down with Rosalie."_

"_Alice, did he break –"_

_Emmett entered the room, holding a small package wrapped neatly in lime green striped paper. "Ah, no harm done. I fixed it."_

_Jasper walked in behind him, raising a blonde brow at her. She could only imagine what he must be feeling. It wasn't her fault she was angry. The baby made her do it. "Emmett!" she hissed. _

"_She's more vicious than a young vampire," Jasper commented. Emmett nodded at him, sitting the package on the table._

"_Yeah, I think I'd take the newborn right now," he said. "I can't get rid of one of those. Sisters, not so much."_

_He stalked to the other side of the room, deftly ignoring the death glare he was receiving._

She shot back up out of whatever hole she'd fallen into, whimpering at the sharp pain that wouldn't ease up. She looked around, not knowing where she was. Edward came into her line of view, anxious emerald eyes watching her. "Bella?" he squeezed her hand. He wrapped her up in a hug and she breathed in his scent, using it to calm her. Dr. Corithers walked around to her other side.

"Bella, honey, we're going to have to give you another sedative," she whispered. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Edward and Alice are right here. The others are right outside. You're fine."

She nodded into his shoulder. Already she could feel the wave of tranquility that was being directed to her from somewhere in the hallway. It calmed her more than any sedative they shot into her IV tube.

_Angela laughed, splashing paint on the walls. She moved to attack another wall with the paint roller. "I love this color!" she exclaimed. _

_They had opted for a shimmering blue color to decorate the nursery with. It was more of a glossy, blue-tinted silver than actual blue, but she liked it. With the window wall accounting for one of the four walls, she liked how the light from outside played with the color. Sunlight lit the room with sparkles; moonlight made it glow._

_Milagra was seated by the window wall, avoiding the splashing paint, folding the few things they'd collected for the baby. She'd sorted it out into piles. Each pile was a category and each category had its own home. She was the most organized woman present. _

"_Bella?" she looked up. Despite her efforts, there was a smudge of silver-blue on her face. "Where do I put the baby blankets?"_

"_Over in that plastic box over there by the door," she motioned with her hand. "We haven't bought furniture yet so Carlisle found these in the garage."_

_Alice danced in, holding the new bucket of paint they needed. She shook her head, the slight disappointment still evident in her eyes. "Bella, this is the strangest baby shower I've ever seen."_

_She rolled her eyes, "Just because I didn't do things the way most people do things, doesn't make it bad. This is realistic. We needed to get the nursery painted anyway. I hate painting."_

_Milagra looked up from where she was folding the last of the small blankets. "I think it is perfect."_

Edward was still gripping her hand in his, whispering in her ear, when she squeezed her eyes shut against another wave of misery. She could hear other voices in the room, though Alice tried to talk so that she wouldn't hear what they were saying. She could make out Dr. Corithers and Carlisle among them.

"You're doing excellent, Bella," she encouraged.

"Alice, I haven't really been here for any of it," she muttered, slurring her words. "They keep sedating me. What's going on?"

"Nothing," she chirped. Over her fake, singsong voice, Bella heard the words caesarian. She turned her head in Edward's direction.

"Is everything okay? I don't really know what's going on."

His eyes were tense, but he smiled for her benefit. "Everything's okay. I promise. They're having a few little problems, but it's nothing to worry about. Just close your eyes and go back to sleep."

"What do you mean a few problems?"

Alice whispered, "Jasper."

He was standing in the doorway, tense and not breathing. But she felt herself calm, drifting closer and closer back to the darkness. She spiraled down into a painless, dreamless world where only her soothing lullaby could be heard.

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**We hope it was up to standard. Please review and tell us what you think. We'd like to know.**

**Quote from "Cupcakes"**

**_"Bella, you're alive!"_**

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	18. Cupcakes

**This chapter has been written for awhile and it's finally up. We're sorry that we didn't actually meet Aurora last time. She'll show up towards the end of this chapter. For clarification, she was born between the two chapters; there were complications during the delivery and Bella's been out of it. We meant to say in the last author's note: Thanks, to Redheart4444, for B.J.'s name.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and everything about it. We own Mila and Aurora.**

_**Cupcakes**_

"Where should I put it?"

She tried to ignore the shushed words and go back to the dark abyss behind her eyelids. She kept her eyes closed and relaxed her entire body, straining only her ears to ascertain what was going on. A moment was all it took to register the voice as Alice's.

"By the window." Rosalie.

"How long does it take to go and get cupcakes from the bakery, anyway?" Alice demanded in an agitated tone. "I sent Jasper and Emmett out two hours ago and they're still not back."

"Can you blame them? They've never been shopping for cupcakes before," Esme's calm and collected voice echoed to her ears from where she supposed the door would be. "I personally think you should have gone for a more nutritious sweet for Bella. She hasn't had a meal in awhile. The first thing you give her to eat is a cupcake."

"Cupcakes today, spinach tomorrow," was Rosalie's explanation.

Without warning, she burst into a wide yawn. On instinct, her hand went up to cover her mouth, but was held back by IV tubes.

"She's waking up." Bella opened her eyes to look up at the three female members of her family. Esme held a small bouquet of white lilies in her arms. Rosalie was staring at her from over her shoulder as she stood by the window, positioning a rather large arrangement of crazy daisies. Alice was closest; she was kneeling down at the side of the bed, an excited gleam in her butterscotch eyes.

"Bella!" She launched herself at her sister. At the last moment she remembered about the tubes, and opted for a more gentle embrace.

"Hi, Alice," she greeted, her voice still thick with sleep. She lifted her arms in a pathetic attempt at a hug.

"It's good to see you awake," Rosalie added, taking her place when she moved away. The striking blonde leaned down and wrapped her arms around her neck. With a smile, she stepped back. Esme had come over from the door.

"We were worried," she whispered in her ear. "All of us."

"Thank you."

"Don't you scare me like that again!" Alice's voice was harsh. "You don't know how horrifying it was – there was blood everywhere. I really thought we'd lost you. And can you imagine how it must have felt for Edward? Not being able to do anything. Don't you dare do anything like that again."

"What happened?" She honestly couldn't remember. She had some faint memory of being awake enough for Edward to tell her that she'd had the baby. She had no recollection of anything else.

Rosalie raised an arched brow. "You don't remember?"

"No."

"Carlisle said she might not remember everything," Esme nodded. "She wasn't fully conscious."

Alice laughed without humor, "I wish _I _didn't remember."

She tried to sit up but the effort proved futile. She collapsed back onto the mattress with a sigh. The three descended upon her, pushing any button they could find and propping her up on two more pillows. When they stepped aside, she was much more comfortable. "Where's Edward?"

"He went home with Carlisle earlier today," Esme said, seating herself at the foot of the bed. "He's been so worried about you and the baby. We were concerned that he was endangering himself by staying here day in and day out."

"He outright refused to leave you before," Alice added. "But once Dr. Corithers told us that Aurora was out of critical condition, he was a little bit easier to sway."

"He made us swear that at the very least two of us would be with you at all times," Rosalie laughed. "It's gotten to a point where I think we should invest in paranoia therapy."

"Thank you." Somehow her gratitude didn't seem like it would ever be enough.

"We have gifts for you," the exquisite blonde announced. Within seconds, her two sisters had mirrored looks of excitement on their immortal faces. The two rose, heading to a the corner of the room where there appeared to be a large, cardboard box. Esme spoke, "We figured that, with you not ready to do much of anything at the moment, we'd be in charge for quite some time. Alice and Rosalie went out and took the liberty of stocking up on baby supples: both the necessities and the frivolous extras."

"You did all this for me?"

"No one minded in the least. I think they had fun, actually."

"How has Charlie been?"

"Well -"

Her explanation was cut short when the door to her hospital recovery room flew open and in came Emmett in Jasper, each with matching glares of irritation, and the largest cupcakes she'd ever seen. Alice and Rosalie stepped away from their rummaging to bombard them with questions.

"Next time you want cupcakes for Bella, you can go buy them," Jasper hissed, non-too-gently shoving the packaged sweets into Alice's hands. The brothers moved towards the empty seats by the window but stopped when they spotted her, sitting up and smiling.

"Bella, you're alive!" Emmett launched himself across the room and swept her up into an enthusiastic embrace. "I was beginning to wonder."

Jasper came closer, too, small smile lighting his face as well. He bent over the rail to her bed and gave her a hug. "We've all been worried. " He stepped back to the chair.

"Thanks, everyone."

"No thanks necessary," Alice waved it off. She turned to the new arrivals. "Why on Earth did you get these?"

Emmett rolled his eyes and collapsed into the seat beside his brother with mock exhaustion. "You never really stated what you wanted. Hey, get chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. No get white cake and chocolate frosting. Wait just a second, I think you should get strawberry cake and lime green frosting. Don't be ridiculous, we want neon pink frosting on a marble cake. And don't forget to make sure there are sprinkles. We want multi-colored ones. No, we want solid colors."

She laughed outright. Jasper snickered and Esme, too, smiled at his imitation. Bella's laugh turned into a whimper of pain. Whatever she couldn't recall about childbirth; it wasn't pleasant. The five in the room descended on her, whispering in their low, fast voices. Esme left the room. Rosalie took her hand and Jasper calmed her rapid heartbeat.

"Shh," Alice's voice floated to her ear. "Esme went to get Carlisle back in here. You'll have some pain medication soon."

"I'm alright," her trembling voice didn't fool anyone; she relaxed against the pillow. A human nurse bustled in and shooed them away from the bed. A few moments later, relief was shooting through her veins and her vision blurred.

* * *

Her eyelids were heavy when she tried to lift them open. She settled for peering out through her lashes at the pastel walls of the hospital room. The sky was overcast through the blinds of the window on her right; the drizzling rain created a haze against the trees. She blinked her eyes again and took a deep breath. She heard a rustle nearby and turned her head to the side to see Edward pacing across the floor, his back to her, cuddling a bundle wrapped in pink to his chest. She smiled at the sight of them: father and daughter.

"Who does she look like?" she asked, her voice was rough and thick, even to her own ears. He turned at the sound of her voice and crossed the room in three long strides. With one hand, he reached out to hand her a small cup of water from the table next to her hospital bed. She sipped from it, draining its contents in a few short seconds. He lowered the baby in his arms so she could see. She raised her right hand, ignoring the IV in her wrist, and touched the soft, warm face of her baby girl for the first time. Silken strands of hair peeked out from the tiny woolen cap they'd put on her head. Its color was a perfect blend of both, copper tints to chocolate colored hair. Her skin was fair, inherited from her mother. After a few seconds, the tiny mouth stretched in a small yawn and bright, wondering jade eyes blinked up at her. She melted at the sight of Edward's eyes. "Can I?"

He placed her into her arms, and maternal instinct took over. She'd never imagined herself having children. The thought of it only came about when she realized that she would never have the chance, even if she changed her mind. And yet, some time between being content with just the two of them and when she laid eyes on the mesmerizing infant she'd brought into the world, she'd developed a nurturing personality that she'd never had before. It felt right, now, as she found herself entranced by her child. She glanced up at him. His eyes were only for the baby; he was enthralled, hypnotized by her. She felt the grin tug at her lips, the contented expression of a mother happy with her family.

He leaned forward and claimed her lips. "Thank you," he whispered. "I love you."

"I must look a mess," she said. "I imagine c-sections don't do much for your appearance."

"You look beautiful, as always," he smiled. "And she's perfect. I counted ten fingers and ten toes. Dr. Corithers says she was just early. She said your blood pressure and stress and such may have been the cause of the premature delivery. But it's nothing to worry about. We're all fine; we're all together."

"We're fine," she murmured, pulling her child closer and kissing her forehead. "We love you, Aurora. Do you know that? We love you."

Aurora Masen Cullen just stared up at her mother with wide green eyes.

* * *

**Sorry if Rosalie seemed a little bit out of character. Just call it being an excited aunt. Just a warning, the next chapter covers approximately four years.**

**Quote from "Interludes"**

**_"I don't know if you've ever tried to change a diaper with Emmett around, but it's not very much fun."_**

* * *


	19. Interludes

**This chapter covers four years. Aurora was born on September 4, 2008 but was due sometime in October - just to make that clear. A lot of these are just flashes from their lives, letting you all know what's going on. **

**Disclaimer: We do not own anything other than Aurora and Mila.**

_**Interludes**_

_September 16, 2008_

She woke up to being shuffled around in the backseat, from having her head in his lap to being lifted into marble arms. She rested her head on Alice's shoulder, eyes staying closed. The back door opened and she heard a strange sound. The mixture of chirping crickets and a baby's cries filled her ears.

"Sleep, Bella," she whispered. Slender fingers prevented her from raising her head. "Edward has her."

She was pulled from the seat by strong, iced arms. One beneath her knees, the other around her shoulders. The tall, lean form was hard to misplace. She let her head roll against Jasper's shoulder, exhausted but very much awake. His stepped smoothly into the darkness of the house, setting her onto the couch and pulling an afghan around her. She curled into a ball and peered into the dim light of a forgotten lamp in the next room.

Edward sank next to her, the whimpering baby within his grasp. She reached out for her. "Edward, let me."

The baby quieted when her mother came into view. Emerald eyes, filled to the brim with tears, widened and peered up with infant curiosity. Bella held her close, rocking her in her arms. Alice came to stand on the other side, smiling at the baby. She looked to her, "Did you know? I've never held a baby before."

She looked up and scooted down the couch forcing Edward to do the same. Alice sat down beside her and held her arms out for the now cooing child. Carlisle sat down across the room, Esme at his side. "Bella, you aren't in any pain are you?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm just very, very tired."

It was a combined effort to get her sore, stiff body up the stairs and into the bedroom. Halfway up the second flight, Jasper swung her up into his arms again and carried her the rest of the way saying, "I'm also a little bit tired. I really don't your stitches to come loose because you were overdoing it and then have you bleeding all over the place. Trust me, I'd much rather carry you."

She pretty much passed out the instant her head hit the pillows. She felt Edward next to her and the soft squirming of Aurora between them. It was a shame the peace and quiet of the evening didn't last until dawn.

* * *

_October 2008_

"Mila, come here," Bella motioned with a finger. The woman in question sauntered over, coffee colored tendrils fanning out behind her in the air blowing from the vent above them. She seated herself up on the arm of the chair where the new mother had just finished feeding her one month old daughter.

"Is she asleep?" she asked, bending over her shoulder. "She is precious, Bella. She really is."

"Do you see that?" she asked, raising a hand. "She sticks her tongue out when she's asleep. Have you ever known a baby to do that?"

"As I said, she's simply adorable," Milagra laughed. "But I have a feeling that her tongue will learn to stay inside her mouth once she starts teething."

"You're probably right," she sighed. "She's already a month old. Where does the time go?"

* * *

_March 2009_

She stood in the kitchen in a state of complete anxiety. Her hair was a mess, the top four buttons of her blouse were undone due to the chubby fingers of her daughter. That same daughter was in her left arm, against her him, with her eyes red and scrunched up as she wailed at the top of her tiny lungs. With her other hand, Bella held a bottle under the faucet of the kitchen sink, rinsing off the formula she had spilt all over the kitchen. She tapped her foot against the flooring, "Edward!"

She heard a reply from somewhere in the house. "Edward! Alice! Someone!"

She wasn't expecting a reply from Alice. She had gone hunting earlier that day with Jasper, Emmett and Esme. Carlisle was at the hospital, working. Rosalie was off in the garage somewhere. Edward was upstairs taking a shower. And no one was around to help her clean up the mess she was making. "Please!"

In defeat, she dropped the bottle in the sink and took a dish towel from the counter top, wiping down the formula until nothing remained but a wet sheen in the reflecting light. Adjusting her hold on Aurora, she took a corner of the towel to the splotches that darkened the stomach of her blouse. She tossed it into the sink to join the bottle and stalked out of the kitchen, putting both arms around the baby and hoisting her up into the air as she walked. Her voice was high, "You have a way of making Mommy absolutely crazy, did you know that? You're really lucky that Mommy and Daddy love you."

She turned her attention to the staircase when she heard Edward's footfalls. Just as he came into view, Aurora reached up and snared a fistful of Bella's loose hair within her chubby, iron grip. She yanked with as much force as her tiny arms could muster. It was enough to make her wince and snap, "Stop that Aurora! Ow, ow, ow!"

He hurried down the last few steps with a sigh, hiding the smile on his face. He raised a hand and worked the strands free from his daughter's fingers, "Don't hurt Mommy, sweetheart."

"She gets more and more like you everyday," Bella hissed, rubbing the sore spot on her head. "Here, hold your child."

He settled her into his arms, "Like me? I've never pulled your hair."

"Spirited! Stubborn!" she said. "That's all you! There should really be a button we can press that says we don't want to pass on our irritating genes."

* * *

_July 4, 2009_

"Emmett, what the hell were you thinking?!" Alice and Bella each descended upon him in unison. He cringed, hiding his face behind a sparkler that was sputtering its last bursts of light.

"It was Jasper's idea," he blamed.

"Jasper didn't tell you to hold a flaming object above the baby's head."

"She liked the lights," he protested.

Angela came into the room, a frown on her face. "Is something wrong? We heard yelling outside? What happened?"

Emmett took the momentary distraction and fled out the back door, tossing his dead sparkler into the sink as he went. Bella turned to her friend, shaking her head. "It's nothing. But let me tell you something. I don't know if you've ever tried to change a diaper with Emmett around, but it's not very much fun."

* * *

_August 2009_

Bella tapped on the door and poked her head in. Jasper was laying on the bed with Aurora on her back next to him, giggling and squirming as he tickled her without mercy. She watched them for a minute before he glanced up. He'd grown attached to the baby as soon as he'd seen her and in the past eleven months, had worked twice as hard as he was already to conquer his "weakness" and control his thirst.

"Hello, Bella," he greeted. He waved Aurora's hand at her, "Say 'hi, mommy'."

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked, coming to stand just inside the room. He nodded. "Angela has some of the books I need for my general ed classes. But she has to go to work and can't drop them off. Do you mind watching her while I run and pick them up from her house?"

"Not at all," he shook his head.

"Thank you," she sighed and slipped her phone into her jeans pocket. "I have my phone if she gets fussy. She's been kind of difficult to deal with here lately."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," he smiled and waved her hand again. "Say 'bye-bye, mommy'."

"Bye-bye." She could barely form the words, but she did her best. All to make her uncle happy. She waved both her hands, rolling from side to side.

"Bye, sweetheart," she waved a little. "Be good for Uncle Jasper."

* * *

_February 2010_

"She'll be flying around the house now," Bella sighed. "I think I liked her better when she couldn't walk. I didn't have to worry as much."

She stooped down and picked up toy after toy that had been strewn across the room. There were dolls, Legos, puzzle pieces separated from their boxes, storybooks. She shook her head at it all. There wasn't room for any of it. Carlisle, to her surprise, had been the masterminde behind most of it. There was a youthful side to his wise personality, one that enabled him to dote upon his "granddaughter" in every way he could think of. Not even Edward or Alice spoiled the girl as much as he did.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," her mother said. "You were a late walker. They tend to behave themselves better than the ones who walk early."

"Really? You know that?"

"No, but it sounded good," she laughed. "Who cares whether it's true or not. It'll make you feel better."

* * *

_June 2012_

Milagra sat next to her at a picnic table under the shade of a tree. Jacob wasn't too far away, pushing Aurora on a swingset. A three, almost four year old now, she was strong-willed and enthusiastic. And she loved her Uncle Jake.

"Bella, I have a question for you," she turned to face her friend. It had surprised them both how fast the friendship came. Neither of them had expected it, given the situation in which they'd met. "Jacob asked me to marry him a few nights ago. And I wanted to know if, maybe, you would consider being a bridesmaid?"

Bella blinked and launched herself at the younger girl. "Of course I will, Mila! I would love to!"

She wrapped her arms just as tight, "_Muchas gracias, mi amiga._"

Aurora's high, excited voice called their attention, "Mommy, Mommy! Uncle Jake say he gonna send me into space!"

Bella laughed at the two, not knowing which one was having more fun. "If he does, sweetie, I'll kill him."

* * *

**Sorry this chapter was so random. We had originally thought to make this a chapter of journal entries, but then decided this might be better. Hope everyone liked it. The next chapter will be up as soon as Madi can get it typed.**

**Quote from "Finality"**

**_"Delivery."_**

* * *


	20. Finality

**This picks up in August, with Edward and Bella's fifth wedding anniversary. After this chapter, there is only one more and then an epilogue and we have finished our first fanfiction. Yay us! We hope you've enjoyed it thus far and will enjoy the rest of the story. Please review! It boosts our meager self-confidence.**

**Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Mila and Aurora are ours.**

_**Finality**_

He came into the room and flipped himself over the back of the couch, in too much of a hurry to sit down like a normal person. She held out a glass of champagne for him to take, lifting her own in her other hand. "To five glorious years," she laughed and clinked her glass to his.

"To five glorious _human_ years," he corrected. She raised the drink to her lips, eyes never leaving his sparkling emerald ones. Five years had done nothing to accustom her to being his wife. Every time he entered the room, every time he swung their little girl up into his arms, she was falling. As hard and fast as she had right from the very beginning.

Reaching out, she put the glass down next to the bottle. The quick upturn of his lips was the only warning she had before they crashed down onto hers. There was no caution, no boundaries; they'd tossed those aside years ago in favor of passion, love, the constant struggle to prove who loved who more. She pushed his shoulders until he was stretched out on his back and she came to lay next to him, curled into his side. Her heart pounded in her chest, his just as wild and erratic beneath her hand. She moved to look down into his eyes. Her hair curtained both their faces.

"I love you," she whispered, hovering just centimeters above his face. His hands came up to cradle her face, then run his fingers through her hair. In her mind, his eyes were still his most dazzling feature, still blazing and smoldering – an emerald flame.

"I wish you knew," he started, "I wish I could tell you, in some way, how much I love you, how grateful – "

She lifted a finger to shush him. "Don't thank me. And you _do_ show me. Everyday. When you pick up the toys so I won't have to, when you fix my favorite dinner, when you argue with me over preschools – "

" – I will win that fight – "

"You show me, and Aurora, every single day," she kissed the tip of his nose. "Like tonight. I know you didn't want pizza. But you agreed to it because you love me."

He snorted, "I agreed to it because I don't feel like washing dishes on our anniversary."

"And you wouldn't make _me_ clean them either, because you love me."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm sure that's what it was."

She snuggled into his embrace again, ignoring his sarcastic response. She sighed, "This is so peaceful. I mean, do you hear that?"

He raised his head, confused. "Hear what?"

"Nothing. No Emmett and Rosalie arguing, no Alice pestering us – much as I love her - , no Jasper with his emotion thing. We talked them _all_ into leaving and then we got Jake and Mila to take Aurora for the evening. When's he bringing her back, by the way?"

"Uh, ten-thirty, I think."

"What time is it now?"

"Five after seven."

She smiled. "No enthusiastic, food-throwing three year old for another three and a half hours."

He shook with silent laughter. "I must say, this parents'-night-off thing is really something. We'll have to corner the aunts and uncles about it when they get home."

"You'll have to give Emmett a firm talking to," Bella added. "Because contrary to what he may think, there _is_ a difference between a teddy bear and an irritable grizzly."

Edward shifted on the couch, hoisting them up until they were half-sitting. His arms twined about her waist, keeping her glued to his side. "I was thinking about something, have been for awhile. I kind of have mixed feelings about it, which is why I haven't brought it up."

She buried her face into his shoulder. Warmth radiated through the thin fabric of the shirt he wore. Her interest was piqued and he knew it, so he went on, "Do you know how Emmett and Rose go off and live on their own as a married couple? I've wondered a few times if we should do that, too. We wouldn't go far, still be in Forks, but it might be better for everyone."

"I've thought about it too, once or twice. But I don't know if it'd be good, to take Aurora away from this house without any warning. She's so used to being able to waddle down the hall whenever she wants to see her 'Unc Jaspy'."

He laughed outright. "You love it when she calls him that."

"I think it's hysterical."

"Didn't she call Emmett 'Emily' one time?"

"No, but she called Carlisle 'Grampy Carlie'. She likes the "eee" sound. Eeeee."

The doorbell rang then and she climbed out of Edward's arms, pulling her clothes into proper order. She set off for the front door, bare feet cold on the flooring. A few fee from her husband, she paused and turned to look back behind at him. He was standing, picking up the champagne, glasses clinking together in his left hand. A strange feeling passed over her and a chilling thought flicked through her head, so quick she almost didn't know it had come. She brushed it aside as not knowing what to do with free time, a night off. Still, she didn't resist the compulsion to tell him again, "Edward?"

"Hmm?" He turned to look at her.

"I love you. You know that."

His brows furrowed together, showing his confusion. "I know. I love you too."

The doorbell rang again, more insistent this time, though the note of the short bell hand't changed. She dashed to the door to make up for the delay and swung it open. She dropped the checkbook and stumbled back a step, face draining of all color and eyes widening.

"Delivery," Jane said in a small, pleasant voice.

She scrambled back, though she knew it would do her no good. Unlike their first two encounters, there was no other motive for her presence that would serve as protection until an escape presented itself. The intent was clear, documented by the wide, unblinking eyes that watched her skittish human movements with mild amusement. Deep crimson, tinges of cool black. Thirsty eyes.

"My masters were curious about you," she spoke, her high voice was polite, almost happy. "I've never seen anyone who fascinated them the way you did. And when they learned that the date was set, they thought it best not to wait long. The curiosity was too much, you see. But, still human, it's a shame."

She was anything but disappointed. No doubt she had known the entire time that there was no new member to the Cullen group. The hungry look in her eyes was proof of that. She said nothing, not willing to give her the luxury of a response.

"Tell me, Bella, where is Edward? I was looking forward to seeing him again almost as much as I was you. Is he around?" The tone of her voice had not changed. It was still too high, still too sickly sweet.

She stammered with her words, heart suddenly pounding in her chest. They must not know about him. She inched forward. If she could somehow leave the house and let Jane do her business elsewhere, Edward could get out, could get to Aurora - her heart clenched.

"No."

"Bella?" Her eyes closed at the sound of his voice. He came up behind her, coming to a complete halt when his eyes fell on Jane. She couldn't look at any of them. Not at Jane for fear of losing composure and not at him for the same reason. It all made so much sense now that the pieces were put together. The visions of their coming had been a warning all along. They came and went as their minds changed about _how_ they would do it, not about _whether_ to do it.

"Edward, you've changed," an edge had come to her voice. The time for enjoying their shock had passed.

She whipped her head up to stand tall. She didn't know where this strength was coming from but she embraced it. "Just do what you came to do and leave well enough alone."

"Where's the fun in that?" the small frame shook with repressed laughter. "Master Aro had so many misgivings about letting us come here to see you. It will be a nice treat for him to know that you were somehow changed back. It's exciting. Not for you, of course, but it is an exhilirating turn of events for us."

She tossed the box of pizza she'd been holding to the floor and took a few steps inside, appraising them. "Felix, Demetri."

She was not alone. The two were far thirstier than their partner, and far less willing to talk. A slight pucker came to Jane's lower lip. "Is Heidi still not back yet?"

"She's still leading the others around outside Seattle, I guess," Felix commented, his midnight eyes trained on Bella. He shifted, the beginnings of a crouch in his posture. Jane tilted her head in permission and he sprang, all but disappearing he was so fast. She caught her lips between her teeth and bit down, refusing to let them hear the piercing scream that wanted to burst forth when he flashed in front of her and sent her flying. Her body was stiff with fear and struck the wall at a horrible angle. There was no mistaking the crack that resounded, or the victorious snarl that didn't quite drown out Edward's cry of her name. Her own choking breath caught when he was tossed, like one of Aurora's dolls, into the piano where he crumpled, arm twisted into a shape it wasn't meant to make.

She was hoisted up by her hair to face Demetri's ravenous smirk. In the backdrop of her mind, she was aware of Jane breaking glasses and plates quite cheerfully, humming a tune. She was flung into the dining room, head smashing into the table. There was a sharp, slicing pain in her midsection. But, no matter the pain her body must be enduring, she didn't feel any of it. A small picture landed within easy reach - the shards from its frame stung her arms - and she admired the content expression on her face in the picture, with Edward's arms around her waist and their baby on her hip. She gasped out a sob. Aurora's first Christmas. Charlie had surprised them with a camera, intruding on a family moment.

"Quit your teasing and finish them," Jane's voice had the audacity to sound bored. Demetri lunged at her; there was a grin on his face that reminded her somehow of Jacob when he'd come to pick up Aurora, playfully rough-housing on the floor. She squeezed her eyes shut.

And the dining room table shattered into a burst of wood pieces and splinters next to her. Instinctively, she jerked her arms up to shield her face but found she didn't have to.

The slender, feminine form of the wolf crouched beside her, protecting her. Leah's eyes were ferocious; her growls were low and dangerous. Two others had formed around her, Seth among them, an impenetrable circle. She saw legs circled around another figure in the adjacent room.

"Edward," she breathed. She heard Jane's frantic scream and more murderous snarls, but this time the owners were enraged. There was a flash of blonde, a glimmer of dark hair - like a pixie. And also, there was a crunching sound that her mind shied away from.

The warm, fur-covered body of the third protector nudged, as gentle as possible, until she was on Leah's back. The smell of gasoline and the vengeful ripping of limb from limb attempted to break through her senses but she chose instead the safer path of floating just below the surface of deep, choking water, its hold on her unrelenting but strangely comforting. The pain hung just beyond, waiting for her to come back to meet it.

It must have been the indescribable thought process of blood loss and trauma. On occasion, she heard voices, or imagined that she did. There was a moment when she thought she could make out Rosalie's strained voice saying something about letting Jane go. She dismissed it, though, when she began to hear her mother teasing her about her horribly shaped pancakes. None of it made sense so she let herself fall, swim in the deep recesses of her mind. No monsters could get her there.

* * *

She opened her eyes despite the sharp pain that tore up her right side. She felt light-headed and dizzy; her stomach churned. There was blood close by. She moved and her mind focused a little more. She was laying in it. It stained the front and side of her shirt red. It was pouring from her own veins. She gasped and choked on an intake of air. She felt iced marble on her flushed skin. A firm pressure was applied to her side, a cloth of some sort, used to staunch the flow of blood. She fought against it, writhing, trying to get away. Her brain refused to register what the voices were saying. There was too much noise.

"Carlisle!"

Rosalie's voice was sharp and frantic. She had the vague notion she wasn't at her side, but was a foot or so away. Alice hummed in her ear. The melody itself was strained and often jerked as the dark haired woman struggled to keep her composure. Her body was racked with tearless sobs.

"He won't stop bleeding!" Rosalie was sobbing now. Alice smoothed her damp hair, shushing her as a mother would a child.

"Grab a towel and try to staunch it some more," Carlisle was losing control now. Fingers shook at her side.

She focused her eyes on Alice. The woman was trembling and there was desperation in her eyes. Also, there was defeat. Emmett crossed into her field of view. He was holding Esme by her shoulders. Her eyes were closed and she was shaking her head back and forth. Her vision swam.

"Carlisle do something!" Alice was shouting.

"Al-Alice," she attempted. Her lips had trouble forming words; her mouth was dry. "Ed-Edward."

The dark head jerked. Alice glanced to her left and she followed her gaze, allowing her head to roll to one side. He was watching her. His emerald eyes had lost depth but they were still only for her. HIs skin was shades lighter than it had been in years. He mouthed the words 'I love you'. She inched her hand out, blindly searching until her hand found his and she held to him with all the strength she had left.

"What will..." she took a deep breath and began again. "Will you...Aurora?"

It was a helpless plea.

"Don't worry about Aurora," Emmett assured her.

"Rose?"

"Yes, Bella?"

Her eyes drooped closed. She squeezed his hand. In the periphery of her mind, she felt herself be shifted out of Alice's arms and into someone else's. When she opened them again, it was Jasper looking down at her. She took strength from him. She still had this one last thing she had to do.

"Promise me."

"Promise what?"

"You have to raise - to raise Aurora."

"But Alice?"

Alice forced a laugh. She was kneeling between them and the sleeping toddler was nestled into her arms. Jacob was frozen where he stood above them. His eyes were wide with shock. Seth and Sam Uley approached from behind. They left a cautious distance but their eyes were distraught.

"I'd only be an aunt, right?"

"Just an aunt..."

"Promise, Rose," Edward's command was feeble, but its implications were enough that the blonde offered a pitiful agreement.

"Thank you," she whispered. Relief washed over her in waves. Alice's face came into view, eyes wild. She clung to Jasper.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare!" Her shrieks fell on deaf ears and she knew it. She collapsed into him, screaming. He stroked her hair, shushed her cries. Through all this, Bella smiled. She could feel herself slipping. Carlisle couldn't stop the bleeding. Edward was doomed no matter what. She had known that when she first saw Jane at the door. Life without him was her own hell. She couldn't handle it again. Maybe that was why she no longer struggled against the numb that spread through her.

"I love you, Edward."

She heard a faint reply as she slipped out of knowing. This time she knew there was no coming back.

* * *

**You had to see that coming! We hated to do it but it had to be done. We'll tell you why after we've posted the epilogue. Now that everyone is thoroghly depressed, a quote from the next chapter:**

**Quote from "Remembrance"**

**_"She's dead, Jacob, don't act like you are too."_**

* * *


	21. Remembrance

**This one's short and very angsty, but appropriately so. We tried to hold as much to the true characters as possible and tried to interpret how they would react if this were to ever happen. Read and Review!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own anything but Mila and Aurora.**

_**Remembrance**_

Carlisle

Is there anyone who can stop the winds of time from blowing, renewing, reshaping, regenerating? Despite all we know, all we love, all we are, life does find a way to go on. The sun will rise in the east and set in the west, oblivious to the lives that rise and set with it.

Time is the cruel, unforgiving side of life. It would see a sole, pure and true, loving and kind, passionate and loyal, struggle through a century's worth of years alone. Would test it over and over until nothing remained but blind faith. It would tear a family apart for its own enjoyment and end a life that had barely begun.

Esme

Would the tearless sobs ever cease? How was it possible for one person to have to endure so much? I couldn't handle anymore, and everyone knew it. We were all the same. He pulled me into his arms and let me cry. He cradled me and whispered words of soothing comfort, though his own heart was no less turbulent. I found myself wondering when mothers received their mercy.

I was no stranger to grief. I knew what it was like to have loved and lost. Two sons and a daughter. How much more could they inflict upon an eternal soul than the pain of losing those you cared for? Of everyday watching over the beautiful baby they'd brought into the world and dwelling on what might have been?

Emmett

It didn't' feel right to not know what to say. The man with the comeback for anything, whether I _should_ say it or not, rendered speechless. Throat too tight to dream of speech.

My big brother, by our standards, and my little sister. Gone. It was an impossible scenario to come to terms with, that we weren't as untouchable as we'd imagined. That I wasn't as strong as I'd led myself to believe. It was unfair that the one time I let myself slip up from my mantra to protect my family, it cost me one-fourth of it.

She was sitting in a chair a few feet away from the mahogany structures laden with flowers, oblivious to everything. Happy in herself. Was it wrong for me to find some measure of happiness in her, the innocent youth?

Jacob

She had rocked my world so many times before, but I never expected her to do this to me. To leave without a goodbye. We'd worked through our acceptance of not being able to be together. Her with marriage and motherhood and me with Mila, my own personal miracle.

It didn't make it any less difficult. Letting go isn't something I had ever planned to do, regardless of where the two of us ended up. Now I didn't have a choice, but I found it was next to impossible. I begged, bargained, pleaded and sobbed, wrenching heart and undry eyes, for me to have her back. My best friend. I moped, pined, and mourned. _She's dead, Jacob, don't act like you are too!_ Her words cut through me. She _was_ dead. Cold, pale, and unmoving.

The pixie sister who saw the future, Alice, she was called, motioned for me to occupy the empty seat on her left. I nodded to her, our eyes matching in unspeakable torment.

It wasn't about who we were today. Today we were the same.

Alice

I hope to never recall the last few hours of my life. The words of supposed closure, the last time we'll see the mahogany wood of their encasement. I hope, like the childhood memories, it will be blank in my mind. The moment I resolved to lock it all away, I was empty.

Of all thoughts save that I killed my brother and sister. I was responsible. Me and me alone.

I knew he had come and what he would do as soon as he did. He wasn't going to let me lock myself away. He pulled me close and wrapped me in his arms.

_You don't have to be strong_, he'd said before. There was a difference between not being strong and not being hysterical. He led me away, past the people with their running makeup, to our car where our whole family waited – I froze, not our whole family.

I crumpled like we both knew I would.

I put my face in his shoulder, not fighting down the ear-piercing scream that tore from my lips. My eyes squeezed shut though no tears came. No power of premonition could have prepared me for this.

Jasper

It was much harder than I would have thought possible to restrain from hopping the next plane to Italy. But my family needed me and I needed them. Controlling the emotions of others wasn't what I needed to calm the woman in my arms. The others cried, hung their petty heads to let the tears fall. She screamed, shrill and heartbroken, into my chest.

I couldn't comfort her. I wanted nothing more than to yell out, too, surrender to instinctive, gut reactions. How could these people murmur, look at us with pity in their eyes? Didn't they get it?

My brother was dead!

My sister was murdered!

I trembled, enough to draw her eyes to mine. She nodded, the ghost of the smile that would never be the same touched her lips. Of course she knew. She always knew. I wished with every fiber of my being that _I _knew what to do.

I needed Edward.

I needed Bella.

Rosalie

The car was the only place I could escape their pity and sympathetic stares. I didn't need them near me. I needed time with my thoughts. Time to realize how much my world had changed.

Be careful what you wish for. That's what they say. I wished. For a baby girl. And that's what I got.

The sun's light was dimming in the west. Another passing day didn't make things easier. I hid my face in Emmett's shoulder. Nothing was easy anymore.

Each moment was instilled in my mind forever. The initial way I'd treated her, the way I'd been harsh to him. This was my burden to bear, having to live everyday wishing I'd done things different, to know that goodbyes are inescapable.

Every time I see dawn, I think of dusk, forever looming on the horizon. For us, who are separate from all that the world was supposed to be, these times of day serve as memorials that help us tally each passing hour. The hearts of the humans around me beat and with every pulse, my chest aches.

For the little girl in my arms. Bronze-tinted hair, sparkles in her emerald eyes. She'll grow from baby giggles to skipping adolescence to rebellious flirtations. Knowing that she, too, will leave me is unthinkable. Gone. Fleeting. But very much a part of me.

How do you live forever when your world only lasts a day?

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**The next chapter is the epilogue. It sums up what we were hoping to accomplish with this story. We hope everyone has enjoyed the journey. We have!**

**Quote from the Epilogue:**

**_Immortality is only found in death._**

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	22. Epilogue

**This is the epilogue. It's over. This part is best read while listening to "Remember When It Rained" by Josh Groban. If you're in the mood for tears, you should listen to that song and read this chapter. We've cried our tears. This is approximately seven years after Remembrance; Aurora is eleven.**

**Disclaimer: We own nothing related to Twilight. The characters Mila and Aurora do, however, belong to us.**

**_EPILOGUE_**

Night's chill clung to the branches, fighting even as it retreated and left the dust of frost on blades of grass. Wispy curls of breath blew out from a figure knelt before a granite memorial at the crest of the hill. The stone was cut with precision and each facet on the surface had been delicately carved to become a monument that would withstand an eternity.

Slender fingers reached out from a thin red sweater to trace over the words. Their names were slanted and the curves and loops on the 'E' and 'l's were flourished, more of a caress than an inscription on the rock.

Dates mattered little. Chapped lips mouthed the words found below a small picture of two hands clasped together.

"Immortality is only found in death…"

She reached out and placed two crimson roses before the tombstone. Biting down on her lower lip, she took two fingers to her heart and then touched them to her lips. Her eyes snapped shut, fighting tears, as she pressed the same fingers to the crisp, frozen ground before her knees. She said no words; she needs no words.

Her legs trembled when she stood. A frigid breeze sliced through the leaves and she shivered. Her dark hair tickled her check and she snatched at it.

"Aurora?"

She turned her gaze towards the blonde. Her eyes were perfectly almond shaped with long lashes. And they were a piercing shad of emerald green.

"Yes, Mamma Rose?"

Rosalie held out a hand and she took it. She was not ashamed to squeeze and cling to her. Her skin always reminded her of the granite of their tombstone.

"Are you about ready to head home? Let's not let Esme's and Alice's morning in the kitchen go to waste."

"Mamma Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we stop by Uncle Jacob's on the way home? I want to wish Noah a Happy Thanksgiving."

A ghost of a smile appeared on the exquisite face of the blonde vampire. "If that's what you want to do. We'll have them heat your breakfast up later."

Satisfied with the answer, Aurora Masen raced ahead of the other to where Emmett was leaning against the car. He opened the door for her and she climbed in. Rosalie shook her head and in a flash, was seated in the passenger seat.

Aurora got on her knees and looked out the back to where the tombstone of Edward and Bella Cullen would exist for the rest of forever. Emmett's door clicked and the engine hummed to life as the dawn broke over the trees.

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**Thank you so much for joining us in our first attempt. We hope that we've been worthy of your time. There are sequels churning in our heads, about the life of little Aurora M. Cullen. And keep an eye out for oneshots that we either excluded or just wanted to add. This story is far from over.**

**And, as an explanation for why we killed Edward and Bella...we began this whole "thing" after we'd written the epilogue. The whole story was a spinoff of a bunch of what ifs related to what we thought was going to happen in Breaking Dawn. And we agreed that the best (here defined as most tragically memorable) way for the two of them to achieve immortality was by dying and leaving behind a child. Aurora is their immortality. -Just in case you all wanted an explanation.**

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